Triton and Atlanta
by Physalie00
Summary: "What are you?" "I am a Calypsaï, one of the saviours of Calypso, daughter of Atlas." When the princes of two kingdoms go missing, both kings automatically blame the other. The only thing that can save the kingdoms is a royal betrothal and some princesses who are sent on a mission to retrieve the princes as dark forces gather, before it's too late.
1. Prologue

**TRITON AND ATLANTA – Physalie00 – PROLOGUE**

**I know, I should be updating City of Angels and Demons (check it out!) but this idea was stuck in my head. Plus, if I don't get more reviews for CoA&D, it will be up for adoption. I personally get frustrated when authors do this, but I've just run out of inspiration and ideas. Sorry for any inconvenience.**

**Full Summary: **

"**What are you?**

"**I am one of the Calypsaï – the untold saviours of Calypso, the daughter of the Greek titan Atlas."**

**When the two kingdoms of Calypsaï engage in a brutal war, nothing can reunite them but a royal betrothal. However, the male royalty of both kingdoms – Triton and Atlanta - apart from the rulers are missing, possibly dead, the princesses of both kingdoms must unite on the adventure if their lives to save the princes – before it's too late.**

**More at the bottom!**

**My one and only disclaimer: All characters belong to the amazing Ms Cassandra Clare. Hence, **_**Fan**_**Fiction.**

**Enjoy!**

PROLOGUE – CLARY POV – 10 YEARS AGO

_Boom!_

The underwater explosion rocked my father, Valentine Tritos's beautiful castle. Priceless mosaic, art and metalwork went flying.

Well, when I say _priceless….._

The currency of Calypsaï is the Calyae. It's worth around… one hundred times as the American dollar. Pretty impressive for a population of… 70 million. All crammed into the Bermuda Triangle.

Bermuda Triangle, my ass. The whole 'danger zone' is really more like a pentagon. The reason for the, uh… danger zone… was the carnivorous war beasts used in battles between and involving the Triton and the Atlanta people.

Like, now.

What started it was some crazy argument about the missing Calypsaï male royalty apart from the rulers, Valentine Tritos and Stephen Atlantis. Both last names derived from the original Calypsaï rulers; Triton and Atlanta; the two nations in the Calypsaï world.

The missing princes were:

Jonathan Atlantis (Stephen's son – Jonathan 1)

Alexander Lightwood (Stephen's nephew)

Jonathan Morgenstern (Valentine's son, my brother – Jonathan 2)

Simon Lewis (Valentine's nephew, my cousin)

The crappy thing was, while these idiots got lost in the ocean somewhere, the Calypsaï people depended on us.

Because we were betrothed. Joy.

I was the lucky winner of Jace (note the sarcasm). My best friend and Isabelle's cousin was Ella Naedyllei (very hard to pronounce, I assure you) which was Isabelle's aunt's maiden name. On the other side of her family tree was her uncle – Stephen. Ella was betrothed to my lost brother, Jonathan. And Isabelle was paired with Simon.

You see, we knew these boys. I don't remember them, but when I was three, suddenly they just… disappeared. After many search parties, the only conclusion drawn was that they were spirited away to the dreaded land above. My people called it the ominous name of… dry land.

So you may be a little confused. Surely I live on dry land, right? Wrong. As fore-mentioned, I live _underwater _in the Bermuda Triangle. I have two… forms. One, a human form (used predominantly for mating), and two, a half-fish form like a mermaid. So, I do have red hair, and I am part fish, but I do not have a crab/lobster named Sebastian. End. Of. Story. Obviously, I can breathe on land and underwater.

Back to more pressing matters. With all this war going on, we need the princes. _Fast. _So my father and Stephen have proposed a trip to… dry land… to find them.

So, looks. No blue skin or fangs. Just a tail-fin thing. Just normal humans with a half-fish form. I have really fiery red hair (hence the Ariel reference) but bright green eyes and really, really pale skin with freckles on my nose, cheekbones and shoulders. Apparently I resemble my beautiful mother Jocelyn, but I don't see it. I'm short, especially for Calypsaï standards. My tail is a green-y blue colour.

Isabelle is gorgeous. Again, she's unusually tall by human standards; we all are. She has long, ebony hair and dark calculating eyes that seem much warmer the better you know her. She has perfect olive skin. Her tail is a really rare red and violet shade.

Finally, Ella. She has stormy grey eyes and white blonde ringlets. She is tall - no surprise there. She is also model-pretty; Calypsaï usually are, along with the height. Her tail is really light green with yellowish tints.

Our tails are a little like the legends – yes, they have scales, but they pop out and stand up to form an impenetrable shield. We also have a line of sharp, venomous spikes running down the centre reflecting our rank and nation. We think it's something to do with how our tails are treated. Mine are like porcupine spikes and are indigo in colour. Izzy's is gold and more like a fish's top fin, just razor sharp. Ella has canary yellow spines that are slightly curved but very thin, tapering to needle-sharp points.

From what I remember of the boys three years ago, Jonathan 1 and Jonathan 2 had blonde hair, while Alexander and Simon had brown. Jonathan 1 had gold eyes, Alexander had blue and Jonathan 2 and Simon had dark brown eyes. But they could have blue hair for all I know – I only have memories from when I was a toddler. I honestly cannot, for the life of me, remember what their tails were like.

My father and Stephen had agreed to our betrothals, and now that very agreement rested on our shoulders – to restore it. Now they have organised an expedition, with supervisors in the form of Raphael Santiago and Camille Belcourt, commanders from my father's army, and Magnus Bane and Helen Blackthorn from Stephen's. I had met Camille and Magnus and I really liked them because they always slipped me more seafood from the kitchens through their friends Seelia and Meliorn Queens (siblings).

I just wish my mother was here.

"Clary?"

Turning, I saw Isabelle standing in the doorway, looking concerned.

"Having one of those days?" She sighed.

"What days?" Enter Ella.

"The… Jocelyn days." Izzy whispered. I flinched at the mention of my mother's name. Ella's mouth formed a small 'o' and she immediately fell silent. After an awkward moment, Izzy cleared her throat and beckoned for me and Ella to follow. We complied, a little bemused.

Izzy led us down the underwater corridors lined with mussels and seashells. I had been so caught up in my thoughts, I had completely forgotten about the war raging on outside. It was incredibly obvious now; the drone of war fish whipping through the water, the clang of metal against scales and armour, the rain of shells upon the palace walls.

We soon reached my father's chambers; I don't know how the two rulers were so civil to each other when their armies were battling outside. They seem to have decided to pause the war between them while briefing us of our mission. Once we leave, it will be worse. Much worse. My father stood tall and regal, his cropped white-blonde hair neat and orderly. His dark grey eyes bore into us, calculating our chances of success.

Stephen seemed much more laid back, even in wartime in his enemies' headquarters. They had a strange love-hate relationship that pretty much no one else could comprehend. Except Céline….. and Jocelyn.

There I go again.

"Hello, Princesses; Clarissa, Isabelle, Ella-Jasmine." We all flinched simultaneously – we disliked the formality of our full names. "I hope you know what you are here for." He looked at us expectantly. We nodded our affirmative. "You must find the missing princes and bring them back here, otherwise this war will never end." Valentine concluded.

"The boys are about your age, maybe a year or two older. We know that they are in the USA somewhere – we just don't know where. It is probably going to be coastal or near a lake or river where you find them. Raphael Santiago, Camille Belcourt, Magnus Bane and Helen Blackthorn will be there to assist and look after you." Stephen added.

"We sense a dark presence lurking near water sources in the US. We are concerned that the Eulysae are reforming, with the ultimate goals in mind; our princes. Camille has been assigned money-making duty, with a job as a doctor to continue hers studies of the human –and Calypsaï – body. Magnus as lookout; scouring the broadcasts and Internet (a world communication and knowledge archive) for traces of the boys and the Eulysae. Raphael and Helen are posing as the parents – they will meet teachers, hold your fake identification, et cetera. You are to report back every three years." Valentine informs us.

"When you find them, their memories may be blanked of all Calypsaï knowledge and folklore – a clean slate. You are not to reveal their true heritage, or yours, until it has been confirmed by your guardians and they have reported back to us. The mission must be completed in eighteen years or less, for once they are completely independent they will split up and we have practically no hope of finding them. As soon as you meet them, you must try to state your position in your betrothal by actions. If any other human females are competing with you, make sure you eventually come out top in the princes' eyes. You hear me?" Stephen continued.

_Boom!_

The explosion wreaked havoc on the beautiful city. Valentine turned to Stephen. "I thought you called off your men!" He screeched.

"I did! These men aren't mine!" Stephen replied just as heatedly. Both men rushed towards the glassless alcoves showing the carnage of battle. In the distance, both forces of Triton and Atlanta were at a standby, facing each other in orderly lines. They hastily fumbled for their weapons and ammunition to prepare for the unknown threat.

Far off, the sandbar near Bermuda stirred up hurricanes of sand, laced with strangely opaque black wisps of smoke-like substance. Every now and then the smoke would form into rearing dolphins, lionfish, grimacing faces. Each time the symbol was larger and thicker, expanding into a massive Eulysae warrior. The man held up a hand for silence and attention. Then he spoke.

His voice was like nothing I'd ever heard before. The briny sea breeze, tsunamis crashing, seagulls cawing; all combined into one monstrosity of a voice so horrendous it was almost beautiful.

"I come to deliver a message." The voice said in its reverberating timbre. "The Calypsaï people must surrender, otherwise we shall find your precious princes and kill them. Mark my words, they shall die. So give up this land. You have until the next Halley's comet to hand it over, so move out a hide." And with that, all the black smoke dissipated until there was nothing left.

"The next Halley's comet is in nineteen years. The thing about a magical place such as this is the so many reside here that it takes years to evacuate, years to level and years to rebuild. The magic slows time and prevents much change unless the participants are willing. And to get back our princes, we are willing to leave this place." Stephen said sadly. "You must begin your journey immediately. Begin in Miami and work your way around America. Our race is counting on you to succeed."

We were ushered out of the door and into the night, directed towards and islands just South of Bermuda where many merchant ships sail. It would be easy to sneak on undetected and off again in a port town on the mainland.

"Ready, girls?" Camille asked.

"Ready."

**The next chapter will be set in ten year's time. These are very smart six year olds if anyone is confused of their knowledge of dialect. So please check out my other stories and especially CoA&D, because I need to know who, if anyone, is adopting it. So enjoy, read on, and review, favourite, or add to alerts/subscriptions. Remember – I would looooove feedback of this story. Happy Late New Year!**

**BTW, I am reaaally nervous because I have NSW State Age Championships for swimming in a couple of days! I'm racing in the 50m and 100m freestyle. In Australia, so please excuse my funky spelling. Hope you liked it!**

**Physalie00**


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

**Hey there.**

**Here is the next instalment of Triton and Atlanta. Thank you for the five alerts/subscriptions, the favourite (thanks for that! :D) and the two reviews – courtesy of Buffering and mortalinstrumentsgurl1. Thank you for the support and sorry for the confusing parts.**

**If they hadn't reviewed, I would have updated tomorrow, so you have those two to thank for the early update!**

**Enjoy, and the disclaimer is in the Prologue (previous chapter) for those of you who didn't read the author's note.**

**New York, Present Time**

**Ella POV**

Izzy, Clary and I drove towards the open doors of St Xavier's, brimming with people on the early Friday morning. Camille had said that this school potentially had the missing boys there and that we had the same schedule as them. Unfortunately, Izzy took over the wardrobe this morning and decided to punish us about our lack of a fashion sense through death by perfume inhalation. I mean, seriously.

I was wearing a cobalt-blue skin tight, thick camisole with spaghetti straps that was tucked into a floral print skirt that went to just below mid-thigh. I had a dark denim jacket on and some super cute black leather ankle boots with low heels. My hair was left down in its usual messy white-blonde curls with my grey eyes framed by peachy eye shadow and royal blue mascara that is to die for, even in my fashion deprived state.

Clary wore one of those emerald green Greek- style blouses with slits on top of the sleeves over light denim short shorts. She had silver hoop earrings and a Tiffany's silver necklace with a key on the end of it. Silver sparkly heels completed the look. Creamy eye shadow and brown mascara completed the look along with some dark red gloss.

Finally, Izzy wore a red blouse with sleeves that ended and belled out at the elbow. It was made of satin and had orange, pink and violet streaks every now and then. Underneath she had white short shorts with gold plain 8 inch stilettos. Her make-up was fairly heavy with red-pink eye shadow and blood red lipstick. She had gold dangly earrings in with red glass beads on the ends that she found at the bottom of the Grand Canal in Venice when we were checking out the submerged church in our half fish forms. Although our mission is to find the boys, there isn't much to do during the school holidays – Camille took us to many cultural sites – the canals in Venice, the coliseum in Rome, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace in London, the Parthenon in Athens, Sukho Thai in Thailand, the Terracotta Army and the Great Wall of China in China, the Aztec cultural sites in the Andes in Peru; and many more.

But God, this endless routine of rooting through the American cities is tedious now. First Miami, then Orlando - we even tried New Orleans - then Massachussets, LA, Atlantic City, San Francisco, Houston, Washington D.C., Seattle; now New York - the city that never sleeps.

I'm getting sick of moving around. If we don't find the boys here, I may call it quits. I mean, we've been looking for 10 years now. Enough is enough, right? Valentine had told us we had eighteen years, but that was a mistake on his part – they would be in college by then!

But apparently it is not enough for the rest of the Calypsaï...

But I do love the opportunities presented; me, Izzy and Clary are Nationals 1st, 2nd and 3rd for swimming, athletics, gymnastics and rowing. But we're a little short on money now; we had to make a quick exit from Seattle because we were spotted from a Yacht in fish form.

_Flashback_

_Clary, Izzy and I had left Raffa and "Helsinki" cooking some seafood for dinner and had gone out to swim. The sky was cerulean blue with a few speckled grey clouds; a storm was coming. _

_Seattle in October isn't exactly warm, but in the water the Calypsaï were immune to the cold. The water was dark and deep, littered with holiday makers coming in on the chilly evening breeze. Fisherman were coming in from a day's trawl, and going out again with fluorescent green lights attached to the decks to attract squid and octopi from the depths. _

_Clary, Izzy and I hadn't known better when to go out – hadn't realised that the evening was the ocean's rush hour. A single yacht was moored around in a nearby "cove", but none of us saw it._

_What we didn't know was that they were divers; with scuba equipment, black painted tanks and bright white lights to see the underwater activity at dusk. A man and a woman had entered the water with a splash that the three of us heard, but waved off as a wave crashing against the shoreline. _

_Suddenly, Clary cried out. The bright torch light had struck her eyes – now used to the murky depths – and momentarily blinded her, illuminating her bikini top, and brightly coloured tail covered with the hardened scales and poised spines, alerted to danger. Her red hair now glowed; the captain still on the yacht could now see her silhouette and threw a fine fishing net to try and catch this "bizarre species". Her sharp scales and spines thankfully sliced through the thin netting, but an underwater camera flash took us off guard. The scuba divers swiftly swam back to the yacht and had nearly boarded once again when I darted forward, snatched the camera and grazed both the scuba divers and the captain with my spines. One tiny graze from them releases a potent amnesiac – not strong enough to kill, but wipes the memory of the last 6 hours of both humans and Calypsaï._

_We quickly returned home, to see Camille coming home from work and explaining what had happened to her. We hastily packed and left, to stop further investigation of our species if someone happened to remember or witness the events of the day._

_End of Flashback_

I was brought back to the present by the screeching tires as I parked the car. It lurched forward into the concrete parking space dramatically, but unfortunately Izzy was doing her eye make-up at the time. She started screeching and I knew I had seconds before an attack. Clary seemed to have the same idea because we both leaped out of the non-running car and raced towards the entrance of St Xavier's.

In the brief seconds I had to process the school before an ambush by Izzy, I noticed students steadily flowing towards the old, worn out school; sandstone walls, wooden window sills, grubby window panes, scuffed lime green linoleum floors. The high arching mahogany gates were wide open, meant to be welcoming. Leftover lunches were littered by the limestone steps.

Izzy also leaped out of our new black Porsche Carrera that she had insisted we buy, even with our shortage of money from the costly seven plane tickets from Seattle to New York. She was screaming bloody murder, although the mistake clearly wasn't that serious or she would have spent longer correcting it.

In our haste to get away from Izzy, we failed to see a clique of teenage girls tottering in their stiletto heels towards the entrance. Clary and I rammed into two of them; a pretty Asian girl with dark skin, hair and almond shaped dark eyes who wore a denim mini skirt and a white tube top, with at least 6 inch cream bow stilettos. The other girl was tall, about an inch shorter than me (so about 5'10"), with long platinum blonde hair and almost unnaturally blue eyes. She wore a baby blue bubble hem tube top that ended above her navel (which was pierced, might I add) with white denim short shorts that showed half her butt. They both wore miles to much make-up and screamed 'slut'.

Clary, Brunette, Blondie and I all fell over. Brunette gave us a cold glare and their friends scowled at us. Blondie wore a similar expression. I noticed a group of boys heading our way.

"Oh crap! I'm so sorry." I said. I knelt next to Brunette, seeing a graze on her knee, and held out my hand to help her up. That's when she slapped me in the face.

**JACE POV**

I saw two girls I didn't recognise barrel into Aline and Kaelie and started towards them. A third girl with black hair was jogging towards them, doing a remarkable job in heels that high.

The blonde girl knelt beside Aline who was glaring at her and offered her a hand. Aline went for the "subtle" approach and slapped her in the face.

The 'crack' rang through the parking lot and everyone fell silent. The blonde looked in the direction of where Aline's slap sent her head before very slowly turning her head towards Aline. Aline has a great body and looks but she is denser than a tree canopy, unfortunately. Kaelie is completely the opposite - amazing grades – so I wonder why she even acts like she does. Sometimes I wonder why I dated Aline.

The blonde said, in a scarily calm tone, "If you have any respect for yourself I would get off the ground to stop flashing all the boys. And if you ever, EVER, touch me again, I will utilise my black belt skills in martial arts. Capiche?" Aline laughed.

"Puh-lease. Skills? You're just a stupid slut who is jealous of us." Everyone gasped. BIG mistake.

"Her, the slut? And who said anything about you? My friend here is a black belt in karate, judo, Taekwondo and jujitsu, along with the art of the eight limbs. Do you know what I call girls like you? Bowling balls." Said the blonde's partner-in-crime, a redhead.

"Omigod, lol! Why the hell would you call us that?" Aline giggled.

"Because you're used to getting fingered and banged down an alley." the redhead replies smoothly. I have to admit, Aline and Kaelie just got stumped. Their mouths formed small 'O' s in shock and anger. You could hear the gasps, snickers and whispers throughout the lot. Aline and Kaelie stood up, gave the girls the finger, and stalked off into school, tottering as they went up the steep steps, followed by their loyal under dogs.

The girl with black hair ran up to the blonde and the redhead and gave them high fives. They grinned and turned towards Jordan, Jon, Alec, Sebastian, Simon and I looking slightly sheepish.

"Sorry, were they your girlfriends?" the blonde asked. I noticed a red slap mark in the shape of Aline's hand and instantly felt bad. You could see the indent of the ring she always wore on her hand printed on the girl's cheek.

"No, but you look like my next girlfriend." replied Seb. Smooth.

Everyone but the blonde rolled their eyes. She just looked at him with an eyebrow raised. He took a different approach.

"What's your name? I'm Sebastian Verlac." He offered a cheeky grin that warned he was not to be trusted around small children.

**ISABELLE POV**

"What's your name? I'm Sebastian Verlac." A hot tall guy with dark hair and eyes said to Ella.

"I'm Ella Naien. This is Isabelle Trueblood and Clarissa Fairchild." she replied.

"Call me Izzy, that's Clary," I said pointing to her.

"I'm Jace Wayland," a gorgeous boy with gold hair, eyes and skin said. So not my type though.

"Simi Lewis." a brown-haired, brown eyed nerdy looking kid said. He was pretty cute, though.

"Jonathan Morgenstern." a tall, dark and handsome boy with grey eyes and white blonde hair said.

"Alec Maciejowski." a boy with black locks and blue eyes said quietly.

"Jordan Kyle at your service." the last boy, with hazel eyes and brown hair, said. These boys could be the princes, except for Simi, Jace and Alec. Or not, but I can see why Camille thought they might be.

"Do you think you could show us round? We need to get our schedules." I asked.

"Sure thing, follow me." Jace said. He headed towards the gates. "By the way, I broke up with Aline - the brunette - just before you came, so that's why she's pissy. Kaelie - the blonde - is probably just PMSing."

Okay, so I was surprised. And curious. Why break up with her? Why insult them?

We dutifully followed them into the school, . Camille spoke the truth; we all had the same classes. Maths, biology, physics, music and lunch whizzed by. Next was PE. Now this I was looking forward to...

**CLARY POV**

I'm so excited for PE. Surely it will be one of the sports we're good at, right?

That Jace guy seemed a little arrogant but he had his head screwed on right. Plus he's got looks like a god!

Right. I totally did not say that...

Anyway, once in the locker rooms, I realised that we had forgotten our PE kit. There was no uniform, but a tall rusty iron locker was assigned to each student. Many had brought padlocks and decorated theirs, but Aline and Kaelie had bribed and bullied two freshman girls until they gave up their PE lockers for them. This just made me hate them even more.

"Uh, Maia, do you think I could borrow some shorts and shirts?" I asked.

Maia Roberts was Jordan's girlfriend and was a curvy girl with caramel coloured skin, chocolaty hair and eyes and a mischievous grin. She was one of the only girls in the school who stood up to Kaelie and Aline, who were currently talking about how "stupid" of Jace it was to break up with her, since she was "the sexiest girl in the school". I saw Kaelie raise an eyebrow slightly at this, but she said nothing. Kaelie was actually pretty smart – she was in my maths and physics classes and she was constantly raising her hand and supplying answers. Aline… Well, she answered the question 'What is the area of a rectangle?' with 'One times rectangle'. I think that speaks for itself.

Maia shook her head sadly in answer to my request and nodded her head towards Aline, now one of the last girls in the changing room. I reluctantly relayed my question to Aline.

Aline got a devilish smile on her face. Well shit. She handed me tiny fluorescent violet short shorts and a purple sports bra. I gulped. She gave Ella some blue shorts and a tank top that was miles too big from a small box in the corner of the room. Izzy had asked a slender girl named Elyse if she sould borrow hers before she left. Lucky…

We walked out of the changing rooms. Aline looked surprised, I had a C cup now and a faint six pack and really toned legs. Same build for Ella and you could see her curves still through the too-big shirt! It was obvious that she, being delusional, had thought that I was practically anorexic and Ella was fat.

Izzy was working an indigo tank top and some navy bike shorts that showed her muscle definition and killer curves. You could see the boys noticed, too.

Some of the nicer girls gave small smiles and some congratulations about showing up Aline. Elyse grinned and gave us a thumbs up, and Maia winked. Kaelie and Aline scowled more at their reactions.

We had to run two laps of the 400m athletics track as a warm up. Jesus, this is too easy! We overtook all the girls really fast. Granted, the boys - especially Jace and Seb - were quite fast. But in the second lap we were ahead of all of them. The looks on their faces were priceless! Jace and Seb piled on the pressure to catch us, so we went fairly hard for the last 200m. At the 100m mark they obviously were sprinting, so we let them catch up to us then shot ahead to the coach. The boys' jaws dropped. The coach turned to us and said, "You know the boys are some of the best in State?"

"Really? Me, Ella and Izzy are the top three in Nationals for swimming, athletics, rowing and gymnastics." I replied.

At this point everyone had caught up and their jaws hit the floor.

**ELLA POV – AFTER SCHOOL**

"Cami, Maggie, Raffa, Hels, we're home!" I yelled into the empty Brooklyn household. It housed ten and had a nice, spacious garden and six bathrooms. Raphael and Helen always kept the pantry, fridge and freezer fully stocked with hundreds of ingredients. Magnus was usually scouring the Internet and hacking schools' computers (don't do this at home kids) to find more information on the missing princes. Although our guardians were on different "teams", they got on amazingly well. It was great! Cami and Magz were even dating, since last year when Clary, Izzy and I sent them both love letters on Valentine's Day, supposedly from the other, and they kissed. Of course, they found out about the letters but, I quote, "Their love had been revealed".

But now the house was dark and quiet; something it never was. I slipped into the kitchen and there was a large pink sticky note taped to the fridge.

_Ells, Iz, Clare - _

_Magz and I have gone to St. Xavier's to check it out, form a map, examine files; you know the drill. Raffa and Helsinki are in the study looking up the following:_

_Jonathan "Jace" Wayland_

_Jonathan "Jon" Morgenstern_

_Simon "Simi" Lewis_

_Alexander "Alec" Maciejowski_

_If you know these boys, please gather info on them. Once you've done homework and whatnot go for a swim, somewhere farther North, to test the waters. _

_- Cami_

_P.S: chocolate cake in fridge, leave at least 2 slices please! If there is none, then slap Raphael for me – I caught him raiding them earlier. Love you and I hope you had fun at school!_

I read it out to the girls who nodded and smiled. We immediately raided the fridge for cake, and Izzy went and slapped Raffa anyway and when he demanded an explanation, Izzy replied innocently, "Cami said naughty Raffa was on a fridge raid and that he would get fat and end up wifeless." Of course it was a lie, but it was pretty entertaining to see Raffa call Cami and scream at her about it until she said, "Darling, you are wasting brain cells you can't afford to lose." Of course, she didn't mean it, but this was classic Camille-Raphael banter. It went on all. The. Time. Anyway, Izzy, Clary and I left and went to the kitchen to talk and discuss plans.

"So, we're going for a swim," Izzy said. I nodded and smiled.

"Yep, we're going for a swim."

**The swim will be in the next chapter, and if you have any questions or comment please drop me a review or PM. Please, remember there is an actual person behind the computer screen, so constructive critsism is great but please, no bashing.**

**Review, favourite, follow; your choice!**

**-Physalie00**


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

**AN at the bottom! Enjoy…**

**JACE POV**

Those girls had left quite an impression.

Seb had called dibs on Ella, and Simon was looking after Izzy like a lost puppy. They were all attractive; Ella with pristine blonde curls, slate grey eyes, low cheekbones, thin pink lips, slim and tall figure; Izzy with ebony hair, smouldering dark eyes, full dark lips, high cheekbones, slender, model-like figure.

Clary was cute from afar, gorgeous up close. She had hypnotic leaf-green eyes framed by scarlet lashes and eyebrows, pale creamy skin, full pink lips and a perfect cupid's bow, and fiery red hair with streaks of orange, gold and almost pink colours in it. She was petite but very slender with perfect curves. I had decided to watch her for a while, see if she was worthy of the Jace Herondale. If she was, she's mine.

"Yo, Herondale? You in Clary land?"

Sebastian's condescending voice brings me out of my reflection. I thought I had been discreet about my attraction to a certain redhead, but then again Seb had always been able to read me like a book.

"How can I help you, my Lord?" I said, voice dripping sarcasm. I turned to him, my face a carefully blank mask designed to conceal my emotions which worked…. Most of the time.

"We're going to Long Island Sound for the weekend to swim; guy's night - weekend - out." piped up Alec. He ran a hand through his already tousled black hair, looking nervous. Alec had a scar on his chest from his time messing around on motorcycles, which led to a shard of glass from the helmet being lodged in his chest from a nasty collision with a small Toyota. None of the guys apart from me had seen it, and the scar wasn't exactly discreet.

"We're leaving tonight." Jordan informs me as we walk towards Seb's giant Cadillac and my Porsche Carrera in their respective spaces in the school parking lot; right at the front. We got these spaces as a "rite of passage" in our school – date a girl then break her heart. It was nasty, yes, but if you didn't do it then you were shunned forever. I had done mine in freshman year with a girl who moved to England a year ago. Nothing special; we'd dated, then I broke up with her. End of story.

"So you have half an hour to pack clothes for the weekend, towels, trunks, sunscreen and all that jazz - we'll meet at my house before heading off to Idris." finishes Seb. I can't wait – Idris is one of my favourite places in the world; lush green fields, sparkling water, small woodlands, quaint town, nightclub, _girls. _Maybe that would get my mind off Clary… So I shrugged and said,

"Guess I'd better get on with it."

**CLARY POV**

I was itching to swim, but there was one tiny problem...

"Are we swimming in the Hudson River?!" I yelped. I'd seen that river from a distance and it looked positively _disgusting. _There was rubbish, plastic bags, cigarettes and rotten food floating in the water and the water was murky and dark with litter and algae. As a Calypsaï, I swam in _nothing but the best._ Apparently, the East River was just as bad, if not worse. Ugh.

Ella laughed, her grey eyes lighting up with amusement and surprise at my suggestion. "Hell no! We're going to a place called Idris in Long Island Sound, I think. The water is supposedly fresher there. But if you insist on swimming there, feel free to do so – alone." She teased, winking at me, her dark lashes fluttering.

"Just for the weekend?" Izzy asked. I could tell she was just as thrilled as Ella to be getting out of town, even for just a couple of days. Plane flights don't sit well with us Calypsaï, as our realm is really either fresh water or salt water, preferably _not _polluted.

"Just for the weekend." Ella confirmed with a smile. "C'mon, c'mon, get packing! Sunscreen, towels, pyjamas, underwear, daywear, and most importantly, TWO-piece swimsuits! Go, go, go!" Ella dashed towards her room, already packing. I plodded up the carpeted stairs to do my least favourite part of the trip; packing.

Izzy followed me up without a word.

"But- but-" I protested. If you have met Isabelle Lightwood/Trueblood, you will know to avoid her when she's packing or shopping if you value your life.

"No buts. I'm packing for you." She got a mischievous smirk on her face that told me to dread this, because it was not going to be enjoyable on my part. We all know how much Izzy _loves _to play dress up. With me especially.

I sighed. I guess that was that.

**SEBASTIAN POV**

That Ella was smokin' let me tell you! I noticed Jace gawking after Clary. Man, that boy needs to get laid! Now that he's broken up with Aline (hallelujah to THAT!) he is free to get down and dirty with pretty much whoever he likes. That Clary chic seems pretty cool, and although she's not his usual type, e.g. a whore, he will probably benefit from someone who counteracts his… er, jerkiness. Hopefully.

Now don't get me wrong, I think Jace is great, having known him my whole life I _know _Jace is great, but he needs to settle down at some point, preferably with someone level-headed and down-to-earth like Clary. She is ideal.

I was currently packing my blue board shorts with QUIKSILVER written repeatedly in increasingly dark shades of blue the nearer the bottom the lettering got. I had already packed my multicoloured purple, yellow, green and red shorts. I didn't bother with many boxers - just one for the night (I'll wear my shorts during the day.) What can I say, I'm a guy. I grabbed two wife beaters in white and in yellow, sunscreen, a towel, deodorant, tooth brush and tooth paste, and I was set to go.

"Jordan! Simi! Let's move!" I hollered down the stairs. Luckily they were ready and waiting in the living room, with duffel bags at their feet and converses on.

We left for the Cadillac and waited for Jace, Alec and Jon to arrive, but knowing Jace we'll be here for a while.

**ELLA POV**

"Jesus Izzy! I am NOT bringing that!" I heard Clary scream.

I chuckled quietly. Although Clary did lack a fashion sense, she was being brutally attacked by the world of naughty bikinis. Izzy had this belief, along with "nothing less than seven inches" – and that belief was "you can never have too many shoes/bags/bikinis/clothes". She could live at Victoria's secret, for the amount of time she spends there.

I was sitting on the couch, with my Jim Thompson beach bag packed and ready to go next to me. I had a blue and violet bikini with blue netting over the cups and a halter neck with matching blue and violet string bikini bottoms and a white bikini with black whirls and swirls all over it with a bra-style clasp and straps with plain white string bikini bottoms. I had packed spare white denim shorts and a Breton top and a Victoria's Secret nightgown. Spare underwear was hastily shoved to the bottom of my bag along with my phone and phone charger in case we had a repeat of the yacht experience in Seattle and had to get in contact with Camille, Magnus, Raphael, Helen or even Valentine or Stephen in an emergency. It was unlikely, but now, after that particular incident we were even more cautious than before.

After five more minutes of pregnant silence from Clary's room along with the occasional growl or grumble, she and Izzy appeared. Clary wore light blue jean cutoff shorts and a white tank top along with a long necklace with an amethyst on it. She had an evil scowl on her face with was covered with make-up, courtesy of Izzy. Small amethyst studs in her ears completed the look. But Izzy was looking radiant and pretty pleased with herself for managing to make Clary pack some likely sexy bikinis.

Izzy wore a layered white sundress with white strapped wedges. Ray-Ban Wayfarers covered her eyes, while I was handed a pair of Ray-Ban Aviators. Izzy twirled the car keys around her left index finger and carried two beach bags in her right hand. Hers was practically bursting and was overflowing with make-up cases. Clary's was surprisingly empty after a session with Izzy packing for her, but it was still looking pretty bulky.

"Ready to roll?" Izzy asked. She had murmurs of confirmation from me and a still-scowling Clary. I didn't blame Clary; that long spent in a room with Izzy and clothes is enough to try the patience of a saint. I'm just glad that Izzy has deemed me "fashionably capable".

"Then let's move. Idris, here we come!" With the occasional grumble from Clary, we followed Izzy to the car in the early evening light.

**JACE POV**

What to pack... I didn't realise that I had so many clothes! Maybe Amatis had bought me some more while I was at school.

Shit! Amatis! I hastily dialled my adoptive mother and listened to the dial tone while impatiently tapping my fingers against the desk. After a moment, Amatis picked up the phone.

"_Hello, this is Amatis Graymark." _Came her soft, sweet voice through the receiver.

"Hi Amatis, it's Jace, I was just wondering if it was okay for me to spend the weekend at Sebastian Verlac's beach house? I'll be back by Sunday evening at the latest if I do go." I said as politely as possible.

"_Oh, hello, Jace. Yes, that's fine with me, but make sure you _are _back by Sunday evening at the latest, otherwise you're grounded. Might I ask who you're going with?" _Amatis asked formally, as always. In all the years I'd known her, never once when I called her during working hours did she speak to me casually.

"Thanks Amatis, I will be back by then, and I'm going with Seb, Jon, Alec, Jordan and Simon. Is that okay with you?" I asked. I knew she wasn't too fond of Jon because he once got drunk at a party down the road and came in, barely able to walk, to my house looking for me. Unfortunately for him, Amatis answered the door rather than me, and she'd been on his case ever since.

"_That's… fine, fine with me, as long as you don't get into trouble or bring any girls home. I don't want my adoptive son to be a father anytime soon, Jace." _She knew that I wasn't a virgin, mainly through guesswork and drawing the lines, but I had never brought a girl home before so I didn't see what the problem was. But I knew that I had the all-clear. This time, anyway.

"Thanks Amatis, I'll try to behave." I said.

"_No problem Jace, just be good, I'll see you on Monday morning because I have a late conference in the city. But you are going to school on Monday, no matter how tired or hungover you are. Understand?" _This was normal for Amatis – she tends to be blunt. And away most of the time.

"Yes, Amatis. Bye."

"_Bye Jace. Have fun." _And she hung up on me. I frowned at the phone, then turned back to my previous dilemma of clothing and organisation in my bare, tidy bedroom. It was quite a difference from Sebastian's room, clothes strewn everywhere, bin overflowing, Playboy posters stuck on the walls and ceiling. I wondered how he moved in that room, let alone found anything under the layers of mess. It made me itch to clean. And Detox everything in sight, although that probably wouldn't go down well.

So far I had red board shorts in my spacious duffel bag and was deciding between my black and white board shorts or my black and gold board shorts. They both complemented my complexion and fitness equally well, and I could never decide between them. They were similarly patterned but in different colours and combinations; one in swirls and curls, one in geometric shapes.

"Ah, fuck it," I said and grabbed a pair at random; the black and white ones.

I tossed a couple of plain T-shirts and boxers in my bag and the necessary toiletries. And my new Usher cologne that I had nagged Amatis for for weeks before she finally relented.

I raced down the stairs and out of the door; Alec and Jon were waiting in my onyx Porsche Carrera which purred like a kitten. I saw with annoyance that Alec had taken my spot in the driver's seat scowled, my mood brightening ever so slightly when I saw that Jon had hopped in the back and had left the passenger seat free for me to sit in.

"Sorry, I had to call Amatis to explain where I was going." I apologised, a rare thing from me.

"You took your time, your Royal Assyness." Jon commented.

"Yes, Captain Obvious."

"No need to be rude, Sergeant Sarcasm."

"Right back at you, Comrade Comeback-" I was rudely interrupted by Alec.

"Now's not the time. We're late!" and with that, Alec peeled out of my drive. In my car, might I add. My mood darkened once again and I drowned out the noise of the engine with my new red Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. Still scowling.

**IZZY POV**

Oh my God, Clary is going to be the death of me. I knew she was fashionably challenged, but this is ridiculous. Her stubbornness is seriously wearing on my already thin patience. I ended up chucking two sets of lacy lingerie (thank God she had a C cup now), a black ruffled dress, black stylish gladiator sandals in her tiny shoe size, and two Victoria's Secret bikinis in; a pink, purple, blue and gold stripy halter neck (my favourite) and a pink, black and gold spotty bra-style halter neck. Much to her distress; let's just say that Clary and pink do not have a nice relationship, but she looked remarkably good in the colour because it brought out her slightly rosy cheeks and the pinkish streaks in her fiery red hair that I was sooo jealous of (not that I would admit it, of course).

We were currently in my orange Lamborghini (what can I say? Cam is pretty successful, what with her job as a doctor and all) which I was driving. The drive to Idris wasn't too bad, according to the GPS system. It consisted of main roads away from New York then a small coastal highway leading to small winding roads with the occasional wooden sign to a town we'd never heard of.

After a while, we could see sparkling blue ocean water and pristine white sand. In Winter, this place would be quiet filled with only the locals and some elderly people from the nearby nursing home (the peace and quiet supposedly did wonderful things for people intending to recuperate), but as it was Summer it was bursting with tourists coming here for the weekend. The stores were open, restaurants and cafés were bustling with people, and souvenir shops were crowded and thriving under the warm sun. Although the Seattle episode happened in Winter, we were forced to report to Valentine in the kingdoms so our mission was delayed around six months. I saw people ranging from toddlers, teenagers and grandparents here; families or friends come for a few days away from the chaos of the city. A large sign read IDRIS in block letters.

"Here we are, girls," I announced.

A chorus of "okay"s resounded inside the car before Ella asked where we were staying.

"A small beach house called... 'Calypso Lodge'. Oh, how ironic!" I replied.

"It's about a mile from here, right at the edge of town by Alicante Cove." From what I could see, Alicante Cove was a neat, litter-free cove with clear waters, white sand and lots of vegetation growing on the cliffs bordering it. There were numerous caves dotted in the cliffs; perfect places to escape to when we wanted to hang out and relax before and after our nightly swims.

We drove on towards Calypso Lodge, bursting with nervous energy and the desire to swim. Once we had arrived, Ella swivelled around from her position in shotgun to lay down the rules.

"Ok, first of all - no changing in broad daylight. If we're at the beach, we will stay in human form. Okay? Also, do not lift your tails above water and change when you are quite far out in a remote place. I think that's all."

"Wait!" Clary exclaimed. Ella and I turned to look at herexpectantly. "Izzy is banned from the kitchen!" Okay, so I wasn't a natural, but surely my cooking wasn't that bad? Apparently so.

I glared at Clary. "Love you too." I said dryly.

She rolled her vibrant green eyes, a smile on her face, and leapt out of my car to head inside, scope out the space and un-pack. After chucking our bags down, Clary scoured the Internet on her MacBook Air for things to do in Idris. Five minutes later she is showing us an all-ages club downtown. It opened at 10:00pm - in an hour. I wondered why a small town like this had a nightclub when there was a nursing home nearby. "Good for recuperating" my ass.

"But we don't have any clubbing clothes!" Ella cried. She looked crestfallen; we all knew that Ella loved her partying.

"About that... I may have, er, packed some...?" I said timidly. It was the truth – that was why my duffel bag was so full and heavy; it was brimming with make-up and clothes.

Both girls turned to me incredulously and I smiled nervously. I could see Clary's dread written all over her features behind Ella. I grinned maniacally. Ella broke the silence with a large grin on her face.

"What are you waiting for?"

**JACE POV**

Alec neatly turned into Seb's driveway and left the engine running as he saw Seb's Cadillac pull out in front of us. Alec executed a perfect U-Turn and followed him to Idris. By this time it was about 9:30pm and Jon and Alec had been talking about the new club in Idris - Metropolis. Sure, I thought. But I was all up - cute girls and alcohol? Sounds great to me.

Seb pulled into his sister, Cecily's beach house. Cecily was his identical (female) twin who was in London visiting her cousin, Gabriel.

So Seb had it for the weekend. I was surprised that he hadn't invited the whole school over for a party. The beach house wasn't exactly small – it was three storeys and painted a cute baby blue colour with white window sills and trimmings. It was made of wood with soft creamy carpets, marble bathroom floors and a spacious kitchen and a well-equipped games room in the basement. The windows were large, making the rooms lighter and feel larger and more airy. The sandalwood door and furniture left a strong but comforting smell wafting throughout the house. Cecily had plenty of taste and the room was filled with abstract art with bright colours or just black and white that contrasted the blue and white walls. It had Seven bedrooms and four bathrooms; plenty for all of us.

Alec quickly parked next to Seb and jumped out, followed by me and Jon. We wore jeans and a range of coloured T-shirts; adequate clothing for clubbing. I was almost surprised that a small town like Idris had a nightclub, but the tourist industry was in full swing on Friday nights, weekends and holidays. Metropolis was about a five minutes' walk, so we left the cars at the house and walked. From 100m away you could hear Katy B's "Katy on a Mission" pounding out of the speakers. Around the entrance are two burly bouncers, a long queue, and drunken teenagers leaving with partners and/or friends. The queue moved towards the scuffed brick building fairly quickly, and after a minute I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Metropolis, huh?" I turned to see Izzy, Ella, and you guessed it... Clary.

**CLARY POV**

Izzy's done it again. After the boring journey, Izzy pulls out three outfits.

For me, dark-washed slim-fit jeans, and a cobalt blue halter top that was loose and flowed down my body. This look is completed by silver hoop earrings, a silver Tiffany's bangle and Izzy's 5 inch stiletto silver sparkly heels. A touch of sparkly silver eyeshadow, black sparkly mascara and bright red lipstick compliments the look perfectly. My red hair is left in tamed curls down to my waist.

Ella wore a black cut-out mid-thigh dress with a gold Tiffany's key necklace and gold criss-cross open toe heels. She wore plain gold studs and her hair was straightened and left down. Normally, when curly I reaches her bra clasp, now it reaches the small of her back easily, so it goes to show just how curly her hair is.

Izzy wore a dark one sleeve red chiffon dress that ended at mid-thigh along with gold pumps, dangly pearl earrings and a gold pearl necklace. She had done her ebony hair in a complex French braid.

"It's not far - we can walk." said Ella.

We headed towards the club, the booming base discernible from down the road. 'Metropolis', the neon flashing sign read above the dirty walls of the brick one storey building.

"Metropolis, huh?"

As I said this, a familiar-looking blonde boy swings around and states at me, Ella and Izzy.

"Jace?"

"Clary?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked with what I hoped to be a charming smile. By now, Jace's companions had seen us and turned out to be Seb, Simi, Jordan, Alec and Jon. They were smiling and conversing with Ella, Izzy and I and before long were were in front of the large bouncers standing outside the entrance of Metropolis like guard dogs on duty. They looked us up and down. After asking for ID, which we happily provided, we went into Metropolis and were met with a pounding bass and drunken teenagers stumbling around. There was a dimly lit bar and a dance floor with a gyrating crowd lit by multi-coloured strobe lights. Our group headed towards the bar and Izzy ordered some kind of strawberry daiquiris for all of us. I don't know how she found out about these drinks - we hardly go clubbing. A bunch of slutty girls were clearly hitting on Jace, but strangely he didn't seem interested.

After a while, our group gravitated towards the floor and danced. Jace came over to the stool next to me. The bartender had given me a dozen shots of vodka and coke, courtesy of Izzy, and I felt like I could climb Mount Everest. I felt free; something that is rare, when you know that the fate of your entire race - the Calypsaï - rests on your shoulders. It felt surprisingly good – I had thought that losing your inhibitions would be scarier - and Jace had never looked more alluring to me. Sure, I'd dated before, but Ella, Izzy I were still virgins because of fear of what would happen between "mundanes" (humans) and Calypsaï. Our race mated in human form on remote beaches or islands - beds were a foreign concept, literally.

"Clary, you okay? You look pale. Well, paler." shouted Jace over the music.

"Pale?" I giggled. "Me? Never! Are you- hic- high, Jace?" I asked. Suddenly I felt a little wobbly. Was the floor shaking?

Two Jaces came over and looked at me in concern. "Clary, I think you're drunk. I'm going to take you to Seb's place, okay?" but by this point, I wasn't concentrating on Jace, or his words. I was fixated by the bright lights that resembled angels falling, falling from the sky.

**AN: I hope you liked this (early) chapter, once again because of your wonderful reviews, and thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter. The next chapter will be out in a day or two, so please continue with the reviews/favourites/alerts.**

**Thank you to:**

**- blali for your 'follow'**

**- 07 for your review**

**- Beth (guest) for your review [it came up on my email but not on the review page – not sure what that's about but thank you anyway]**

**- mortalinstrumentsgurl1 for your second review of the story (thank you for sticking around!)**

***Links*: (sorry if web pages are confusing) [also on my profile] These links are ONLY the clubbing outfits:**

**CLARY'S JEANS:**

** . ?productid=324210249**

**CLARY'S TOP:**

** . /imgres?q=blue+halter+neck+top&num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1639&bih=771&tbm=isch&tbnid=EiAOvLT_-EdRJM:&imgrefurl= . /krispoutlet-m1/halter-neck-t43&docid=Dn03dDIppTyvHM&imgurl= . &w=250&h=325&ei=183oUKDsEYuviQfu_IHoBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=478&vpy=100&dur=995&hovh=255&hovw=196&tx=84&ty=123&sig=107504096012700187663&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=110&start=0&ndsp=47&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:100**

**CLARY'S BRACELET:**

** . /search?q=tiffanys+silver+bangles&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=uWXkUK6oGYGptAap3oCYDQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=416#i=12**

**CLARY'S SHOES:**

** vegan-heels/sparkle-sparkle-vegan-silver-glitter-heels**

**ELLA'S DRESS:**

** . **

**ELLA'S NECKLACE:**

** . **

**ELLA'S SHOES:**

** . **

**IZZY'S DRESS:**

** . /search?q=one+shoulder+red+dress&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=u3DlUKezGsfnrAeQk4DgCg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=416#i=4**

**IZZY'S SHOES:**

** . /search?q=gold+pumps&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=NXHlUNrXDsz7rAe9poGYDg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=416#i=3**

**IZZY'S EARRINGS:**

** . /search?q=gold+pearl+dangly+earrings&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=hXHlUIPXDIWqrAf_mIHwAw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=416#i=0**

**IZZY'S NECKLACE:**

** . /search?q=gold+pearl+necklace&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=unHlUPrsAYmzrAeknYFQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=416#i=6**

**Review/favourite/add to subscriptions/alerts!**

**Thanks for reading once again,**

**-Physalie00**


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

**Here is the promised chapter. I am really sorry that it is a little late, but I can explain! I had rowing training and a party today so I was out of time. This one is just shy of 5000 words, so enjoy the extra-long chapter and read slowly, because the next chapter will probably be a couple of days at least, so please hang in there. Enjoy the chapter, and there is a small Author's Note at the bottom so please read it! Thanks!**

**CLARY POV**

_It was all dark. I couldn't see. The last thing I remember was my mother's smiling face, and then it was gone._

_I was in my father's palace, Triton. It was the middle of the night, judging from the light from the surface, and I had been woken from my slumber by shouting in the courtyard outside my bedroom window. I had always been a light sleeper, and this particular argument would have woken the whole kingdom had it been anywhere else but the king's private courtyard for seeing off loved ones and soldiers. I swam through the maze of dimly lit corridors lit by mother-of-pearl lamps, avoiding the main foyer and the servant's quarters. The warren of less well known paths I was now traveling through were less well-kept and lit, giving off an almost eerie feel. As I reached the sheltered outdoor corridors on the outside walls of the palace, I slipped into the alcove closest to the arguing couple a hid behind the coral servant's door that was slightly ajar; a gap small enough for a petite 5 year old Calypsaï, but only just. My fiery red hair floated around my face and I hastily swept it back to keep out of sight._

_My mother, Jocelyn's fiery red hair, so much like my own even at that young age, was floating around her in the clear, deep water. Her tail, green and silver in colour, swished angrily from side to side, floating her up to Valentine's height even though she was about 9 inches shorter than him normally. She had a thick sewn kelp bag slung across her shoulders and seemed to want to leave. Two high spots of colour on her cheekbones indicated her anger; by now they were so dark they were almost the colour of her scarlet hair. I had never seen her look so – livid._

_Valentine was yelling at her, gesticulating wildly. His blue-gold tail was also swishing violently, and his eyes were ablaze with anger and frustration. It was the first time she'd ever seen him look so angry, especially after Jonathan's disappearance. Normally he just looked… defeated, and now his eyes were alive and wild with a challenge in them, almost mirroring Jocelyn's own expression, the only difference being the tear tracks down her cheeks, visible even underwater, while his eyes were filled with tears but they hadn't overflown. Yet._

_"What about Clary?! You've lost one child, now you're leaving the other?!" he shouted. _Why are they talking about me and Jonathan like that? _I thought. _Surely he doesn't mean that mother is leaving us…? _My heart squeezed at the thought, and I tried to reassure myself that she wasn't leaving, that she was only going to market and she'd be back soon, but I had plenty of doubt._

_"It's for Jonathan that I'm doing this! I have met a Eulysae who trusts me, and I am trying to find Jon through him! Don't you see, this isn't just about you losing me! I'm doing this for the kingdom, Valentine!" Jocelyn screamed. So she is leaving! My eyes filled with tears at the confirmation of my deepest fears. _I've already lost Jonathan, now I'm losing Jocelyn too?! _I thought in despair._

_"I will not let you abandon us again, Jocelyn. The Eulysae's realm is the sky, and the sky is everywhere on Dry Land! It is likely that your 'friend' will stay away from water sources in order to stop threats by Calypsaï! Calypsaï are only powerful in their element!" Valentine yelled even louder. I had no clue what a Eulysae was, but it sounded bad if my father was getting so panicked about it. What if they are trying to kill us Calypsaï?_

_I cowered behind the door I was hidden behind, my parents' voiced ringing in my ears. Their conversation - shouting match - brought up unwanted and unstoppable memories of my older brother Jonathan. Jonathan, swimming through reefs. Jonathan, taming a dolphin. Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan. I missed him so much, but I didn't understand where he was. Is he in the sea? Or is he… on Dry Land?_

_"HE TOLD ME HE LOVED ME!" Jocelyn hollered. "HE TOLD ME I COULD CHOOSE OUR LOCATIONS! HE WOULDN'T LIE TO ME!" She sounded so desperate to believe what she had said, my heart broke a little more. Partly because she sounded so _destroyed, _partly because she sounded like she knew it was true._

_"I think you'll find he would, Jocelyn. If this is how you feel, leave. Leave on your futile mission to save Jonathan. Leave, leave your family to die in the war. If that is what you want, the door is that way." Valentine indicated the coral gates to our kingdom with a long, lightly muscled arm. His voice was void of emotion and scary-calm. His eyebrows were almost touching and he looked down upon his wife, his lover, his _Queen, _with so much disdain that I could hardly believe that he had ever loved her at all. I knew that wasn't true though; for five years they showed their affection for each other through me. After all, if they didn't love each other, why would they have two children? But looking at them now, who would guess they ever loved each other in the first place?_

_"I don't love him back! I'm USING him, Valentine!" Jocelyn cried. The raw emotion in her voice caused my vision to blur with unshed tears. I didn't know if she was telling the truth anymore, didn't know I could trust her. After all, why would she leave if she cared? She could send pretty much anyone else after Jonathan. Looking at Valentine, I saw, heartbreak, betrayal and anger. I knew then that he didn't believe her, even if I wasn't sure if I did._

_In his eyes, I saw a marriage gone horribly, inexplicably wrong. In a little over five minutes._

_"But I will go, if that is what you want. I will leave, Valentine, and return with my son. So farewell, Valentine. I will stay in contact with Stephen Atlantis, since you won't stay in contact with me. I am trying to help, Valentine. If you need to find me, look for Lucian Graymark. Goodbye." and that was the last time I saw my mother, before she disappeared forever to the land where the sun shines, the land far above._

I woke up with a start, the vividly accurate dream ringing in my head. That same dream – or really a nightmare – had visited me on more than one occasion. In fact, it appeared most nights, especially when I was stressed. _When most teenagers stressed, they get an outbreak of pimples. When I am stressed, I have a reoccurring dream about when my family was broken beyond repair. _Salty tears had raced in wonky tracks down my cheeks, leaving behind a salty after taste and a slight crust under my fingers. My hair red brushed against my cheek, the now tangled curls matted and twisted against an off-white pillow under my head that was resting on a plain creamy sheet spread taut over the mattress in a dark, quiet bedroom. The blue, white and yellow polka dot comforter had been kicked off the bed long ago, during my thrashing while I dreamt of my mother and father's fight eleven years ago in the underwater palace that I yearned for… but didn't . The day when I lost faith in my lost mother and the day my father lost faith in himself. I was wearing a borrowed, too large grey T-shirt over my own underwear and some blue checked sleep shorts that had been rolled over at the waist to fit around my narrow hips_. Who changed me? _ I thought. Panicking, I sat up straight with intentions of finding someone to ask and hastily flopped back down on to the soft bed once again as a result of the wave of dizziness that washed over me and the pounding of my head between and behind my eyes and on my temples. My throat was dry and sore from lack of water and my tongue felt thick and too large for my own mouth. Opening my sore viridian eyes once again, I saw a concerned-looking beautiful dark-haired woman who was no older than twenty five looking down at me from beside the queen sized bed. For a moment, my heart leapt, and I thought Izzy was with me, making sure I was okay after the mysterious events that resulted in my being here. But then I got a closer look and saw large bright, glacial blue eyes surrounded by dark lashes and eyebrows watching me carefully from a round, unfamiliar face and realised that she was a complete stranger. A pretty, kind stranger, but a stranger nonetheless.

"Oh, you're awake. I'm Cecily Verlac, Sebastian Verlac's older sister, and you must be Clarissa Fairchild. Here is some Tylenol for your - no doubt - migraine, and some orange juice too - you must be thirsty. From what I saw last night, you were drunk as a skunk when the boys brought you up here." she said kindly with a warm smile gracing her pale pink lips and lighting up the features on her face. I decided that I liked her, stranger or not. She reminded me of Ella, and I love Ella to bits. I gratefully took the small, ominous pink capsules and orange juice in my shaky hands, managing to swallow both pills and the glass of orange juice down, before I asked Cecily the dreaded question about my clothing. Or rather, how I got into my clothing.

"Who changed me?" I asked, my voice rasping and my throat feeling raw and unused to talking. Cecily laughed, tipping her head back to expose a slim, milky throat, and a sweet, quiet noise that brightened her delicate, feminine features and lit up her unusually blue-violet coloured eyes filled the otherwise quiet room.

"I changed you. Don't worry, I got those perverted excuses for boys out of the room for that. I think they're playing video games in the rec room, but they might be playing monopoly in the kitchen by now. Jonathan, Alexander, Jace, Jordan and Sebastian were all really worried about you because according to Jace, you fainted and were very pale. They were considering phoning a doctor last I heard of their plans." No! If they get doctors, the doctors will find a few things a little weird with my anatomy, and my general health checks would have some funny results too; my heartbeat was about half the speed of the average sleeping human, plus my breathing was different too – with an intake of 21% oxygen and an exhalation of 3% oxygen. The doctor would see no navel on my stomach, or any blemishes, scars or birthmarks anywhere on my slightly luminous pale skin. Cecily seemed to register my discomfort at the mention of a doctor, and smiled sympathetically with promising that she would ensure that no doctors came within fifty metres of me.

Yep, I definitely liked Cecily. I smiled weakly in gratitude, surprised at her ability to read my expression when she barely knew me and had met me yesterday. Something seemed to click in her mind, and Cecily stood up so fast it made my head spin. I'm sure that when I stand up next to her, she'll tower over me by at least nine inches. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I'll go get the boys. I completely forgot about them! They were pretty worried, the last time I saw them, and I'm sure that seeing and talking to someone familiar will do you good after last night's trauma." I wanted to ask about Izzy and Ella – where were they? – but I couldn't find the strength to move or speak. Cecily left me to my own thoughts while she gracefully glided out of the room in her six inch black stilettos, smoothing down her navy dress as she went, to retrieve the boys from their occupations downstairs.

What had happened last night? I remembered that we went clubbing to the local nightclub downtown called Metropolis... Jace, Jon, Jordan, Alec and Seb were all there... I had a strong alcoholic drink... Or four... I saw angels falling from the sky. Wait, what? Oh well. But how did I end up here? I knew I was somewhere in Idris still, due to the grassy plains and panoramic beaches visible from the narrow crack in the midnight blue blinds in front of the window, but I had no idea how I got here, where Ella was, where Izzy was, or why I'm here. There is a big hole in my memory, and everything that happened after we arrived at that club, Metropolis, was hazy and one big blur. A fun blur, but it was still a blur. And that's what scared me. Did I do something last night that I will regret? Did I accidentally spill my secret to someone? Am I in danger? Are Ella and Izzy in danger? I had no answers to any of these questions, but the thing that worried me most was the one probably most important to me, right here, right now.

Where on Earth am I?

Just then, the door swung open and in came Jace, Sebastian and Jon looking nervous and disgruntled. They all came over and told me how worried they were when I 'fainted on them' while things were 'just getting good'. Looking at Jon made me think of _my_ Jonathan, who did sort of resemble him, even for just the tiniest bit, and before I knew it, tears were running down my face again at the devastating memories of my broken family. I remembered what Camille had said about these boys being _the ones,_ but she had seemed pretty adamant about the others too and look where that got us. Seb and Jon backed away at the sight of tears – was I really that scary? - but Jace wrapped me in his arms - surprisingly comfortable arms, given the amount of muscle on them - and patted my back as I sobbed relentlessly into his once clean, now tear stained, black button-up shirt. He was warm and smelled funny, a strange combination of an almost tangy smell, like citrus fruit – lemons, kiwi, oranges, limes - and sunshine, but it was remarkably soothing. Once I was content again and trusted my soft voice to speak without breaking, I raised my head from Jace's toned chest to peer up at his features, highlighted by the dim morning light streaming in from the window.

"Where am I? What happened?" I asked in a croaky voice. Jace looked down at me in concern, his gold eyes sad but serious, looking surprisingly protective for someone he just met and barely knows.

"Sebastian's beach house. You took a few too many daiquiris last night. They are over three quarters alcohol, and the rest a mixture of exotic fruit, and you had four or five. I took you home because I couldn't find or get hold of Ella or Isabelle." He replied.

"Actually, it's my beach house," a voice I recognised as Cecily's piped up. Jace rolled his eyes and turned back to me with a small smile on his face from Cecily's comment. It seemed that I wasn't the only one who liked Cecily.

"Do you want to come downstairs, or wait here for five more minutes while Seb tries to get hold of Ella again?" he asked softly. I nodded my head in the direction of the door, not trusting my voice not to fail me. He picked me up bridal style easily, as if I weighed nothing (which I practically did) and carried me down three storeys of stairs. The walls were all baby blue, decorated by tasteful abstract artwork every now and then. My favourite was one that was orange and blue and looked a little like a Picasso painting but with no facial outline, just whorls and blocks of bright colour. The polished, fragrant carved sandalwood banister bordered the staircase on the side opposite from the wall and the carpets looked fluffy under Jace's bare, tanned feet and were a creamy colour.

Jace carried me into a neat steel-and-granite kitchen a set me down gently on a pale yellow couch with blue throw cushions littered on it in the corner. The freezer, fridge, microwave, stove, sink and dishwasher were all stainless steel and looked brand new, while the walls were blue, the ceiling was white, and the floor was checked black and white marble - polished until it shone - in a chessboard style. The island in the middle of the room – that was surrounded by tall bar stools with yellow cushions on them – was granite and was dark grey like most igneous and metamorphic rocks, as were the counters on top of the plain white painted sandalwood cupboards and drawers, and stylish lamps hung down from the ceiling right above the island, casting a bright amber glow onto the shiny surfaces. A sandalwood table with matching wooden chairs with yellow and blue striped cushions occupied the far end of the room. Whoever designed this little beach house knew what they were doing. Was it Cecily who designed it? There was a small square window above the sink looking out to the road with potted parsley, basil, carnations and sunflowers on the window sill underneath it, and on the opposite wall were large French windows giving a panoramic view out onto the beach. ALICANTE COVE, a wooden sign said near the house. _So Cecily's house is near our beach house,_ I thought.

"Clary, is there anyone I can call to come and pick you up?" Cecily asked politely. She sounded like a concerned friend's mother, when she couldn't be older than twenty-five. She cocked her head to the side slightly and indicated the open phone book with a flourish of her slim fingers, which I noticed were filed fairly squarely and slightly rounded off at the corners to stop her from getting scratches or ingrown finger nails.

"Uh, Ella-Jasmine Naen or Isabelle Trueblood, but I'm surprised that they're not looking for me already." I replied quietly. Jace opened his mouth to speak, and I turned towards him expectantly, but as if on cue, a loud toll rang throughout the busy household and ended all conversations; a doorbell.

Seb stood up and turned in the direction that the continuous ringing sound was coming from; the corridor to my left. "I'll get it," he announced. He strode past me with purpose and everyone swivelled around to face the corridor expectantly. Seb's footsteps rang through the silent beach house for a few quiet seconds and the opening of a door was just audible and two familiar female voices started speaking at once.

"Where is she? If she's hurt, I'll—"

"Is she here? Jace called us and said—"

Sebastian interrupted them both. "Girls, girls. 'She' is in the kitchen, but I still need to talk to—" Two sets of footsteps were audible as the girls shoved past Seb and headed towards us in the kitchen. Cecily, Jace and Jon stood up to receive them, while Jordan, Simi and Alec – who had been lounging in the kitchen when Jace had carried me down – sat up straight and turned towards the rapidly approaching heeled women. Ella and Izzy swung around the pale blue wall, their faces arranged into indecipherable masks, their slender bodies forming a formidable wall in the doorway and their stormy but worried eyes immediately scanned the room for potential threats before they locked on to me and warmed remarkably. They dashed towards me as fast as their heels would let them and enveloped me in a hug, smiling widely, before straightening up and addressing the room's occupants.

"I believe we've had the pleasure to meet Jace, Seb, Jon, Alec, Simi and Jordan already, but you, tall lady with the amazing fashion sense, we have not yet had the wonderful opportunity to meet." Izzy announced formally, looking at Cecily expectantly with a thin, perfectly plucked eyebrow raised at the woman in question.

"I'm Cecily Verlac, Sebastian's older sister, and it's true what they say about how great minds think alike, huh?" Cecily said with a smirk on her face. Izzy grinned ever wider, and accepted Cecily's hand to shake. When their hands touched, a smile fell off both of their faces and Izzy hastily backed away as if Cecily's touch had burned her. She whipped her head between the six boys and Cecily, before swinging to me.

"Well, I'll be taking Clary home now, if that's okay. Thank you for keeping her safe, but we really need to go. Sorry. Nice to meet you!" Izzy said with an obviously forced smile that looked more like a grimace as she started to gather her things from the floor where she'd dropped them to hug me and greet everyone in the room.

"Oh, please, stay for coffee. We would feel bad that our hospitality had not been enough for you." Cecily insisted with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. The girls stared each other down before Izzy turned away and grabbed my hand to pull me up with.

"Come on Clary, we need to go shopping, don't we?" Izzy said it politely, but her eyes, boring into mine, were urgent and wide with alarm. I got the message and stood up carefully, smiling gratefully at Jace and Sebastian, and with one more cautious glance towards Cecily we hastily left the house, followed by Ella who was thanking the boys and making believable excuses about our need to leave the Verlac's beach house. The smooth talker of our group, as always, and avoiding Cecily like she was a disease that Ella had no interest in catching anytime soon.

We leapt into Izzy's Lamborghini and she peeled out of the gravel driveway with squealing tyres and probably leaving skid marks in her wake as soon as we left the beach house. Once we had cleared the sandstone wall, she roared away from the house and Cecily without looking back. She drove along the winding coastal paths like a bat out of hell, and she didn't stop until we neared the confines of our own wooden beach house before she ushered us inside with a careful glance at the storm clouds in the sky.

**JACE POV**

_What had gotten into her? _I thought. Izzy was usually polite and bubbly, but she lost all of that façade as soon as her perfectly manicured hand touched Cecily's. Cecily was even weirder, trying to convince them to stay when it was obvious that they weren't comfortable with it. As soon as the Lamborghini pulled out of the gravel drive to Cecily's home, she whirled on us.

"_Where did you meet those girls?" _She practically growled. We all flinched simultaneously; usually Cecily is the calm one, the one in control. She basically scared those girls _out of the door _and here she is asking about our friend choices?

"At school, Cece," Alec said. "Why?" I looked over to Sebastian to see if he knew anything, but he smiled apologetically and shook his head no.

Looking around the room, I realised something was off. I just couldn't tell what.

**CLARY POV**

"So, what _was _up with Cecily today?"

Ella, Izzy and I were walking down to the pristine beach in Alicante Cove with our bikinis on and towels rolled up and tucked under our arms. It was early evening, and the setting sun was streaking colours of red, yellow, pink, orange and gold across the sky. The beaches were emptying rapidly because of the oncoming dusk and 'shark time' – when sharks are on the prowl for food.

"I'll tell you in the cave." Was Izzy's short reply.

We headed down to the Southern end of the cove where the cliffs loomed and caves had formed under the erosion from the wind and the sea. Gulls flew in lazy spirals above, the serene beauty of it all incomparable to the beauty of the submerged world, even now when pollution and litter is affecting our seas.

Ella chose a hidden cave that had stalagmites and stalactites protruding from the floor and ceiling like teeth in the gaping jaws of a shark. In the quiet evening, Izzy striking the flint against quartz to create a spark was like a gunshot; loud and startling. Once Izzy had set alight the dried driftwood collected by Ella and I, we unrolled our towels and relaxed against them, waiting patiently for sundown.

"Cecily is not what she seems." Izzy said. After a pause, she continued with her explanation.

"Cecily had the aura of a magical being; that's why I was so friendly. I thought she might be Calypsaï. But when I touched her hand, I didn't get that kind of energy – the lulling, calm energy that radiates from Calypsaï. I got the stormy, free, weightless energy that comes from the Eulysae."

**EULYSAE MALE'S POV – SECOND PERSON**

The boy quietly opened Cecily's bedroom door and poked his head inside. She looked at him with a delicate dark eyebrow raised. The boy sighed before explaining himself.

"I think you're going to have to be more careful." He said. "Izzy suspects, and the others will follow once she tells them her theories." He said quickly.

"I know." Cecily deadpanned. "But as Eulysae, our mission is to eliminate the Calypsaï, and we are in prime position to start with their precious princes. We'll just have to speed up our plans."

"Okay, Cecily. I'll do my best." The boy nervously squeaked.

Cecily turned to him, her expression like that of someone peering at chewing gum stuck on the underside of their shoe. "You'd better."

**CLARY POV**

Swimming was a release. The feel of bubbles running through your hair, currents rippling around you, the euphoria of swimming with other sea creatures like yourself; all of it combined was better than any mundane drug.

We were swimming around the headland because of the reef. The shallow water there caused waves to crest far above under the moonlit sky. There were fish galore; white ones, blue ones, red ones, white, blue and red ones; a myriad of colours, a range of shapes and sizes. The coral was equally diverse; brain coral in blue, pink and yellow, tree coral in red, purple and orange, and so much more. It was captivating.

Izzy, far ahead of me surfaced and hauled her slender body out of the water, her ruby tail glinting in the moonlight, half-submerged while dangling off the rocky layer. Ella did the same, lying on her back, just under the over croft near Izzy. They changed back into human form to relax and absorb the pearly moonlight. I stayed submerged, underwater. Hearing voices above the water didn't alarm me. What did alarm me was when a gorgeous blonde boy with an eight-pack leapt into the water three mere meters from where I was. I hastily changed into human form, hoping he hadn't seen the tail. I swiftly surfaced and got a shock at who I saw.

"Jeez, we just keep running into each other, don't we?" Jace grinned widely at me, his fine blonde hair plastered to his forehead with seawater. I smiled slightly at him.

"Hey Jace," I said. He looked around in the water for a minute before turning back to me. "I came in here because I thought I saw a mermaid," He admitted sheepishly. "Then I saw you, and I completely forgot about it. I guess it's just the full moon playing tricks on me. Weird, huh?" He laughed.

He obviously was a little embarrassed about his mistake, but the only thing I could think was, _What a near miss._

**ELLA POV**

The boys had kindly walked us home over a path they found over the cliff we had swum near. It was concealed with vegetation and you wouldn't see it unless you were looking at it, but once you did see it it was hard to miss and even harder to lose again. Once we were on the street where our beach house was, we stopped at a house near our end of the road. "Thank you so much," I said.

Seb grinned. "Not a problem. See you at school, 'kay?" We smiled.

"Bye." Izzy said. Clary waved and gave Jace a hug which he returned after blushing slightly. Seb wolf whistled, grinning the whole time. Clary and Jace rolled their eyes, but broke apart, both blushing now. We turned and went our separate ways, with us packing our bags and leaving Idris before the boys we had met at school even arrived back home.

**Thanks for baring with me, I know that the wait for chapter 4 will be tedious. I will try and make it fairly long, but it won't be quite as long as this one (my longest chapter yet). A big thank you to all the reviewers and followers and my one favourite, especially to:**

**Mortalinstrumentsgurl1 for her reviews every. Single. Chapter so far**

**Buffering for the reviews for all but one chapter**

**Beth (guest) for her second review which is still not showing up on FanFiction but I did get the email for it so thank you**

**Temptation94 for their follow**

**Thank you all for reading and reviewing, see you next time with next instalment of Triton and Atlanta.**

**-Physalie00**


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

**Oh my word, I am SO SORRY. I promised this chapter in two days, and it's been… FIVE! :O I am so sorry! But the next chapter will be about… Five days… Because swimming training is completely overboard because now that I have done my individual events, I am in the team relay on Sunday for State! It's open age category, so we have all kinds of ages swimming, including one twelve year old on our team! (She is pretty amazing though). **

**Thank you for the support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. More at the bottom!**

**ELLA POV**

"We have to tell Camille and Magnus about this," I said. Always the voice of reason, that's me.

Izzy was driving like a lunatic through the unusually quiet streets of New York City. The Brooklyn Bridge was visible ahead of us, shrouded in fog, blurred slightly by the heavy downpour running off the wind screen. I was typing a message to Camille on my phone in the bumpy car. Did I say that Izzy was driving like a lunatic? If I did, it needs repeating.

_Plz research Cecily Verlac, thanx. –E xox. _I ended the message to observe the outside and inside of the car, fidgeting on the plush black leather seats. By Triton, I'd slept on _mattresses _less comfortable than this car. The 'bum warmers', as Izzy so delicately put it, were on the hottest setting, and I swear you could fry eggs on the seats. Outside was obviously pretty cold, because the windows were fogging up from condensation because of the temperature difference inside and outside of the orange car. Izzy smoothly swung into the overtaking lane to get past a shivering truckie driving a truck that was advertising Victoria's Secret. I imagined the truckie in Victoria's Secret lingerie and laughed out loud. Clary gave me a strange look from her position in shotgun, and I gave her a one-shouldered shrug as a response, nodding my head in the direction of the truck. She smiled slightly before looking out of her window. I looked forwards once again, leaning past Izzy in the driving seat to look out of the front of the car, focusing especially on the slightly blurred amber lights of the oncoming traffic.

The wind screen wipers on our car were going at a mile a minute, desperately trying to clear the driver's sight in the pouring rain. Colourful umbrellas with rivulets of water running off the edges bobbed along the wide sidewalk of the streets, ranging from red to black and polka dots to stripes. I saw an unfortunate woman wearing a black pencil skirt, white blouse and black blazer lower her umbrella to duck under an alcove in front of a Starbucks store and get soaked by a leak sprining in the gutter above her head. She flinched and rushed into the store to presumably get dry. Although most New Yorkers were hiding from the rain and oncoming night in the comfort of their warm, dry homes, a surprisingly high number were still out and about during the overcast night. Shops were beginning the close, café doors swinging open at irregular intervals to let customers in or out, the warm interior inviting as opposed to the rain outside. The nightclubs were opening up, pounding music audible from inside the vehicles, the neon signs flashing above the doors. The patter of raindrops on marble café tables and the painted metal on the hoods of cars was almost as deafening as the music from the clubs had been a few streets over as Izzy pulled over in the neat concrete driveway lined by recently pruned rosebushes in front of our house, a spacious red brick Brooklyn household on a friendly residential street near the main road. The windows were closed; the creamy blinds flung shut to retain heat. We were drenched from head to toe within seconds of being out of the sports car, even with the door a mere five metres from the dripping Lamborghini. The clear chirp of the car alarm being set by the press of a button was all that broke the steady rhythm of raindrops beating down in the dark night time of New York City. All of the activity in the distance made me think how accurate the nickname 'the city that never sleeps' really was.

Clary wrapped her black trench coat more tightly around her, probably wishing she had chosen a coat that came with a hood. Her slender silhouette was illuminated almost eerily by the neon streetlamps, the yellow lighting casting shadows on her throat and almost sharpening her already angular facial features. Her long scarlet hair was straight, hanging down almost to her butt with the weight of the rain. I watched as she rearranged her unruly hair in frustration, pushing the hair that was plastered to her heart-shaped face out of her eyes and into the mess that she called hair. The grey fabric of the coat darkened until it was nearly black and stretched to twice its original size to accommodate the water, weighing her tiny frame down as she produced the house key from a thankfully dry inner pocket, fumbling slightly as she forced it into the slippery keyhole. For a moment the dark colour scheme reminded me of Sebastian, especially the midnight black of Clary's drenched coat, the way his black locks fell in his eyes and swept around his head in an unlikely halo. Thoughts of Sebastian filled my mind in a swarm, reminding me of the suspicions Izzy had of Cecily, and doubt filled me – could we really trust Sebastian? I hastily rid myself of the thoughts; I had other things to think about, I reminded myself in vain as the thoughts just coming.

Clary successful unlocked the door and swung the heavy wood open until it smacked into the wall behind it, making me flinch slightly and ridding me of those suffocating thoughts. She started shedding her dripping coat and soaking leather knee-high boots, revealing the thick brown leggings, grey tank top and socks and fluffy fleece that she had worn underneath the trench coat. She threw the soaking materials inside the organised, heated coat room on the right hand side of the open door. I quickly slipped inside the narrow hallway to escape from the rain, narrowly missing Camille's favourite vase in the process. Isabelle followed me, but she bumped into the dark rosewood table that held the precariously balanced blue-and-white painted Italian-style blown glass curved vase, which fell almost as if in slow motion towards the wet, polished hardwood floor, before shattering almost artistically into a million pieces across the floor, sending tiny chips of colourful reflected light dancing across the creamy walls and floor, the rays only disrupted by the slight dent in the wall that Clary had caused when she flung the door handle into it. _Oh well,_ I thought. I'd never really liked that particular vase of Camille's anyway.

"Isabelle! I liked that vase!" At least someone did.

Camille's exasperated voice sounded from the end of the narrow hallway, her green eyes, much like Clary's, revealing nothing about her emotions. She turned back to us, taking in our attire. "Hey! Jackets off! I don't want you ruining the floors like you ruined that wall with the door! They're mahogany, you know!" Well, Camille always had been very observational. Of course she noticed the dent in the wall. I smiled slightly at the familiarity Camille always brought, shrugging of my heavy, damp fluffy parka, before kicking of my sodden dark blue converses and following the now bare-footed Isabelle inside the kitchen at the end of the hallway.

The smell of food was intoxicating and strangely soothing, even at this time on a Saturday. Dark circles lay under Clary and Izzy's eyes, their eyelids drooping with exhaustion but snapping open at the sight of Camille's food – Camille was an amazing cook. The steel and wooden island was covered with an expensive-looking white intricate lace tablecloth and full, practically overflowing exotic dishes of food ranging from grilled prawns and calamari to fried bok choy, pristine papers and profiles littered on every available space in between the dishes. The striking contrast of the pale skin and dark eyes of Sebastian Verlac stared up at us from the corner of one page, the paper and the information printed and written on it catching my attention. It read:

_Name: Sebastian Jonah Verlac_

_Age: 17 years 3 months_

_Parents: unknown. Adoptive: Sarah Koch, Daniel Koch_

_Sibling(s): Cecily Sophia Verlac_

_Address: unknown_

_School: St Xavier's, NYC_

_Birthplace: Calais, France_

Underneath the description were some hand-written notes by Camille, based on the information she had gathered on the school database and from us.

_Friends: see Jordan Kyle, Jace Herondale, Alec Maciejowski, Jonathan Morgenstern, Simon Lewis. Human(?). No known connection to Calypsaï/Eulysae._

The notes went on and on like this, profiles of Jace, Jordan, Alec, Si and Jon also printed and scrawled across, including images of unfamiliar adults who were most likely the adopted parents stapled to the respective sheets, also filled with information. The only profile missing from the collection was Cecily's.

I turned to Camille. "Where is Cecily's profile?" I asked. Camille looked at me and frowned at the sheets, drumming her manicured fingernails on the counter. She always did this when she was nervous or concerned about something, and I guess the obvious lack of information on Cecily merited those emotions.

"That's the weird thing - I couldn't find any information on her anywhere on the Internet, in the phone book, the lists of e-mail users - not even during hacking. It's like she doesn't exist – she didn't go to school or university, she doesn't have a bank account, at least not under her own name. Why do you ask?" Clary's already creamy skin paled considerably, and Izzy had a grim look on her face. We looked to each other, then back at Camille.

We told her everything.

Everything about the boys, the events in Idris, our suspicions of Cecily. Camille's frown deepened as the conversation and evidence against Cecily went on, and her mouth set into a grim line. After we had finished, she was silent for a minute, processing our words. She fiddled with her hands nervously, shifting her weight from foot to foot, while absorbing the information provided. To be fair, we had kind of overloaded her with information, but due to previous experience it was usually best, when collecting evidence, to not miss even the tiniest detail, because that tiny, seemingly insignificant piece of information could hold the key to the whole investigation. The whole explanation had taken about twenty minutes, and throughout the whole thing Cam had sat patiently, taken a few notes on a blank sheet of paper and on Sebastian's, Jace's and Alec's when they were mentioned, and clearly absorbed the details of the stay in Idris, looking at Clary disapprovingly at the mention of her drinking at Metropolis and the near miss with Jace in the water at the cliffs.

Then she spoke.

"I don't think her name is really Cecily."

**JACE POV – 11:00am Sunday**

Sunlight streamed in through the huge windows of the guest bedroom. It shone into my eyes, currently squeezed shut against the nearly blinding morning light. The memories of the previous night's events came flooding back into my half-asleep brain. Cecily acting strangely around Isabelle after their hand shake and her insistence of the girls staying, seeing a girl with a purple and green shimmering fish's tail in the reef, seeing Clary at the cliffs with Ella and Izzy, and finally seeing Izzy's flashy orange Lamborghini racing through the winding streets of Idris outside the beach house at night, heading for the City, the skyline of New York visible against the rolling dark storm clouds brewing behind it, warning of a nasty storm that would not be fun to be caught in.

I sat up in the comfortable white mattress to stretch cat-style, last night's green Hollister button up shirt riding up to show my tanned, toned abdomen, if I do say so myself. My now dry board shorts were slightly crumpled and sticking to my thighs, having made the bed sheets stiff with salt and dried seawater from my expedition in Alicante Cove last night. My hair probably looked like I had walked through a hedge backwards after falling onto the bed minutes after our adventure in the salty water near the cliffs of Alicante Cove, when I hadn't even dried myself off. Thinking about messy hair reminded me of a 'Teenager Post' I'd seen a while back on Tumblr that was something along the lines of:

"_I swear my pillow could be my stylist. Every morning I wake up with a new hairstyle!"_

Story of my life. Ah, how I love Tumblr.

A muffled thud and a loud shout from downstairs in the previously quiet beach house brought me back from Jace Land.

"_FUCKING LAMP!" _Sebastian yelled from the kitchen along with a stream of profanity that I would rather not repeat. I leapt out the warm, comfy confines of my bed, flinging the white door of the guest bedroom open with a bang and racing down the carpeted staircase to where the noise had come from. I ran into the kitchen and saw Seb sprawled over the cold marble floor, clutching his head with both hands, his eyes squeezed shut. Around him were pieces of broken fuchsia pink glass, also scattered across the island and in his hair and clothes, making him sparkle like a disco ball. One of the hanging lamps Cecily had stylishly put above the island was smashed, the bulb now free of its glass casing, hanging from the ceiling by a wire, and flickering dimly. Sebastian glared up at it as if it attacked him.

I looked at the drama queen lying on the floor with an eyebrow raised. He turned to me with a scowl on his face. He grimaced, sat up, and looked at me with a melodramatic sigh, clearly waiting for me to come over and make a fuss of him while pulling him up and calling the ambulance. Like _that _would happen. _Ah, yes, Sebastian. _I thought. _You can't forget the sigh if you are in Drama Queen mode. That just wouldn't do, would it? _Sebastian seems to understand my need for an explanation, so he starts whining about what happened.

"I was reaching over the island to try to get a fork from the draw on the other side. Then this damned _lamp _decides to _hit me in the face. _I mean, look at the thing. It looks suspicious. Look at it!" He wildly gesticulated with one hand that he had removed from his head at the flickering lamp, and I watched him with concern, wondering if he hit his head harder than I thought.

"Did you apologise to the lamp?" I asked with a straight face, and it was a struggle, let me tell you.

Sebastian frowned. "I will only apologise to the lamp when it apologises to me. I need an apology from Cecily too – if she hadn't hung the damn thing there, this would never have happened!" I couldn't help it – I laughed, clutching my stomach while doubling over. He sounded like a petulant child. However, this wounded his large ego, because he tried to stand up and protest, then flailed wildly and fell back on his ass. I laughed even harder.

Cecily walked in wearing black cotton sweat pants and a loose yellow tank top, watching us with amusement. "Got the giggles, Herondale?" She asked me. I tried to shake my head, but with all the laughter it looked more like a nod. She burst out laughing at me. Sebastian frowned at us.

"You're laughing when there's an injured man over here?" He said with disdain. He pointed to the tiny scratch on his forehead, unintentionally drawing attention to the sparkly glass in his hair, and Cecily and I just laughed harder.

**ISABELLE POV – 11:00pm Saturday **

"But, why would she say she was called Cecily then?" I asked, confused. "It's not like we would recognise her anyway." I finished. Sure, Cecily was pretty, but I'm good at remembering names – just not faces. And Cecily is an uncommon name.

Camille shook her head. "You wouldn't recognise her. But I would." Three heads swung around the stare at Camille after this revelation – mine, Clary's and Ella's. Camille, seeing confusion, seemed to decide that explaining would be in her best interests. _Damn right! _I thought in shock. She could have said this earlier!

"The thing with Calypsaï and Eulysae is that they only fight for favour and rights – mainly because they're so similar. The only difference is their hierarchy and realms of power. The Calypsaï are ruled by a monarchy split into two kingdoms, while the Eulysae are a democracy of seven sections. There have been many arguments and brawls between the two species, even over topics as trivial as whether a monarchy, dictatorship or democracy is better for the people. Their realms of power have caused a lot of trouble; while the sea is the Calypsaï realm of power and it covers around 60% of the Earth, the Eulysae have all the sky in the atmosphere, which covers the whole Earth and is 14 kilometres thick, from the Earth's crust to the edge of the atmosphere. Many of our race have argued that it is unfair, but the hard truth about it is that life _is _unfair – and we just have to accept that.

"If Calypsaï or Eulysae are unhappy with their position – as a Calypsaï or a Eulysae – they do have the legacy of asking a Higher Power – the Spirits of Triton, Atlanta or Odysseus – if they may change from one race to the other."

"Hang on – Odysseus? What does he have to do with it?" I asked, confused.

"It's complicated. Most Greek figures, God or hero, have a Roman name. Like Athena is Minerva, Zeus is Jupiter, and Heracles is Hercules. Odysseus is Ulysses, and the word 'Eulysae' is derived from that, but with a variation in the spelling. Just as the Calypsaï are the saviours of Calypso when she was exiled, the Eulysae saved Ulysses from Calypso's clutches – as her lover – to return to his wife, Penelope, who in the meantime had had many proposals as her husband was 'dead'. Depending on your source, Ulysses was with Calypso for 3, 5 or 7 years, but both the Eulysae and the Calypsaï believe he was there for seven years. Our two races were practically created to be rivals.

"Back to what I was saying, I knew a young Calypsaï named Lycia Leccrev in the kingdom. Think about that name for a minute." Camille looked at us expectantly. Lycia Leccrev? Who is she? I heard a gasp from Clary and I swung around the face her.

"It's an anagram, isn't it? Lycia Leccrev is an anagram of Cecily Verlac." Clary said triumphantly. I should have known…

Camille smiled. "Yes, that's what I thought. Lycia requested an audience with Valentine Tritos and Stephen Atlantis in the shrine for Triton, Atlanta and Ulysses about twenty years ago, and I never saw her again afterwards. I don't know if she is really related to Sebastian, because he seems innocent so far, but keep your eyes peeled, okay? You never know who – or what – is watching."

**JACE POV – 11:30am Sunday**

Cecily decided to humour Sebastian and his 'fatal injury', and washed the cut with soap and water, then put a Disney Princess band-aid on it without letting him look at the design. He looked pretty content, spending the indulged time glowering at the shattered lamp. I moved towards the stove and turned it on, greasing a pan and letting the smell of my omelette waft through the kitchen. Cecily stood next to me and prepared a large amount of eggs, bacon and pancakes for the rest of us.

_Girls, girls, girls I just can't say no, _

_Never see them coming I just watch them go _

_Girls, girls, girls I just can't say no, _

_Never see them coming I just wa-wa-wa-wa-watch them go, _

_Take control, making me sweat girl run that show, _

_It's them girls, girls, girls I just can't say no, _

_Houston, I think we got a problem…_

My ringtone blared out of my phone. Sebastian actually suggested the song, and I went with it. I picked up the vibrating cell phone and brought it to my ear.

"Helloooo?" I asked, drawing out the 'o'.

"_Jace, I need you home. Now. My brother is coming from Los Angeles and I need to meet him. His name is Lucian Graymark and he is bringing his partner along too. He'll be at my house in four hours, so get moving." _Amatis's strong voice rang clearly through the phone's speaker, conveying urgency and importance. I'd never met Lucian or his partner, but apparently they were friendly and welcoming. According to Amatis, anyway.

"Okay. I'll be there in about three hours. Do I come alone?" I asked, hoping I could bring Seb or Alec to endure this meeting with me.

"_Oh, yes. Jace, I need you to bring a girl, preferably one you are interested, and please, no whores in my household. Someone I can respect, okay? Let me know when you have found one." _With that, Amatis Graymark, for the first time in my life, hung up on me.

**11:45am Sunday**

After Amatis's call, I was driving down the main high street in Idris, heading back to New York. I mentally ran through the girls I was prepared to take – and instantly, Clary's fiery hair and petite frame popped up in my mind. I did have her number, but would she want to come with me to some lunch with my family? I knew that it was very unlikely that Amatis would disapprove of her, but we would have to see. I dialled Clary's number into the hands free in my Porsche Carrera, and then I waited for her to pick up while the dial tone rang through the car. After three rings, Clary's sleepy voice echoed in the car.

"_Hello? This is Clary." _She said with a yawn.

"Hi Clary, it's Jace." I said nervously into the car's microphone.

"_Oh, hi, Jace! How can I help you?" _She said, seeming more awake now. Yeah, I sometimes have that effect on people…

"I'm great, Clary. But I do need a favour… You see, my adoptive mother Amatis needs me to bring a nice girl to lunch because I am meeting Amatis's brother and his partner for the first time. Are you up for it?" I asked hopefully.

"_Sure, Jace! When do I need to be there…? And what is your address?"_

"Oh, don't worry about my address. I'll come and pick you up about 2pm, does that sound okay? It's Brooklyn, right?"

"_Yep. So, 2pm. Cool. What do I need to wear?"_

"Something flattering but not… slutty. Amatis says she does not want whores in her house, and I know you're not one, but just to be sure…?"

She laughed; a sweet sound that I would love to hear more of. _"Got it. Thanks Jace, see you then."_

"Bye." I hung up, and continued the long journey back to New York.

**So yeah, once again, my apologies. This was kind of a filler chapter, but you DID learn quite a bit about the kingdoms and the origins, hopefully. I will be feeding you little bits and pieces about the supernatural community throughout the story, and hopefully by the end you will have a better understanding of how I imagined it.**

**Thank you to these people especially:**

**GirlWithASoul for the review and following. Sorry about any confusion, by the way!**

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**-Physalie00**


	6. Chapter 5

**I am so, so sorry! I said five days, and it's been what – two weeks? I was misinformed of the dates! I was on holiday for a week and a bit, and then I had rowing camp for five days so I didn't get a spare moment to update! But the chapter is thankfully here now, and I apologise for the huge wait. The updating will probably slow down even more now that the holidays are ending here in Australia, so each chapter will be about two weeks apart, a month MAXIMUM. For all you reading City of Angels and Demons, please check out the latest chapter because there is an important message. On with the story – more at the bottom!**

**CHAPTER 5 - CLARY POV**

After Jace's phone call, I was sprawled over my teal green-blue comforter to mull things over. What I knew about Jace's family:

- Amatis was Jace's adoptive mother

- Amatis had a brother

So, I knew a depressingly small amount. I was curious to see what Amatis's brother was like, not to mention his partner. Since it was nearly midday, I had two hours to prepare myself before Jace was coming to pick me up.

I walked out of my turquoise bedroom and down the creaky oak staircase in the middle of the hallway, adjusting my baby blue and white striped sleep shorts and plain, cherry red camisole so that I was vaguely presentable for the rest of my 'family' for all intents and purposes to see me in.

Magnus was standing at the counter, already glittered up and ready to go at the ungodly hour of 12am. His tight leather pants had a galaxy pattern on them; nebulae, stars and planets. His silver tank top covered with black fishnet showed off the tanned skin of his neck, shoulders and arms and the navy blue tattoo of a rearing seahorse on his left bicep - the symbol of his clan, Atlantis.

"Hello my darling. And how are you this fine morning?" Maggie's cheerful voice asked. He turned towards me, his cat-like eyes glinting in the midday sunlight.

"I'm great Maggie. I was just wondering—" I began sheepishly.

Magnus sighed dramatically, shaking his head theatrically. "I knew there was a catch! You couldn't just speak to me out of the goodness of your heart..." he feigned sadness and pouted convincingly enough - for someone who didn't know him like I did.

I rolled my eyes at Magnus's usual antics. "All I wanted was permission to be Jace's 'date' to a lunch thing with his adoptive mother, aunt and uncle." Magnus cocked his head slightly, his ebony hair still pin strait thanks to the powerful hair gel he used, pondering the sincerity of the request. I had been caught using a date as an excuse to get out of the house before. After a moment, he swung towards the staircase and bellowed, "HELEN!" in the general direction of her distant bedroom. I hastily clapped a hand over Magnus's mouth to stop him making any more noise.

"Are you trying to wake up the whole household?!" I whisper-yelled. Magnus furrowed his brow delicately and gave me a sly smile.

"Just Helen, but we all know she sleeps like the dead anyway. Sometimes I think her walls are sound proof."

A creak sounded from the staircase, alerting us to Helen's presence. She yawned and raised a light blonde brow. "You called?"

"Dearest Helen, I need an opinion. Clarissa here is going on a date with... A boy." Magnus whispered the last two words with wide eyes.

Helen laughed, tossing her pin strait honey blonde hair back, revealing her ever so slightly pointed ears. "Finally! I was beginning to think she was barking up the other tree, if you know what I mean." she said with a sly wink, briefly concealing the turquoise iris of her right eye. "But yes, by all means, go. Have fun and get Ella and Izzy to help you prepare, and be good. I will... Alert... Camille to this change of plan, and if you hear screaming you will know that she got the message."

I smiled at Helen's sense of humour, used to it after years of putting up with it. "Thank you, it means a lot!" _To Jace especially, _I mentally added. I gave Maggie a peck on the cheek and Hels a bear hug around her slim, narrow waist before taking the stairs two at a time to go and find Ella and Izzy.

**JACE POV – 1:45pm**

_Why was I so nervous?_

My hands were covered with a cold sweat, my knuckles whitened from the death grip that I held the black leather steering wheel of my Porsche in. Grey concrete pathways and neatly trimmed viridian hedges lining the street blurred at the edges of my vision, all of my focus on the single lane road ahead of me. I had just entered Brooklyn, Clary's address sitting on my lap, sliding slightly down my leg because of the insistent bouncing action that my knee was doing. I stopped the erratic, jerky movements of my right leg long enough to safely turn into Clary's gravel driveway and not unnecessarily mow her lawn with my car. I looked up at the looming house, lights on and looking intimidating. On any other day it would probably be friendly and welcoming, but Aline's dad had threatened to castrate me if I didn't treat her well, so the fact that I didn't know what to expect with Clary's parents made the experience twice as daunting.

I swung my door open, closing it gently after I had leapt out. I walked on the even stone of the winding pathway leading to the front door under my feet, raising my hand to knock when the heavy door swung open, seemingly all by itself.

To my surprise, Ella was the culprit of the door's opening act, and she stood in the doorway in pink striped pyjama pants and a grey tank top. She smiled and yawned at me, waving a hand sleepily in the direction of what looked like the living room.

"Come on in. Clary is nearly ready." she took in my dress shirt with the top buttons undone and light blue jeans briefly before yelling up the stairs for Clary to 'get her skinny ass down here'. A minute later, Isabelle walked gracefully down the oak staircase, followed by Clary in all of her glory.

"May I present, Clarissa Fairchild." Izzy proclaimed dramatically, sweeping her hand towards Clary dramatically.

Clary wore a turquoise chiffon knee-length one shoulder dress that brought out the green of her eyes, creamy skin and garnet-coloured hair. She had silver zircon earrings in her ears – I always wondered why girls did that; didn't it hurt? – and a silver zircon heart necklace hanging around her elegant throat. Her shoes were high, silver shimmering stilettos and her purse was a silver clutch to match them that Aline had always asked for when we went shopping. I had always declined or diverted her attention when she did.

Clary had a slight flush on her cheeks, pale blue eye shadow bringing out the green and the flecks of gold in her eyes and mascara making her lashes – looking thicker and darker than usual –stand out. Izzy had done well, that's for sure. My jaw threatened to drop, but I held it in check as Clary completed her graceful descent of the stairs in the death traps that most girls called shoes. I resumed my usual expressionless façade, skimming my eyes over Clary's head and towards the striking blonde woman standing behind her.

The mysterious blonde had white blonde curls much like Ella's dancing down to her collarbones, and luminous green eyes very similar to Clary's own bordered by long blonde lashes and thin, pale eyebrows. She wore loose grey pyjama pants and a slim fitting violet short sleeved tee shirt. She exuded a powerful aura, commanding and controlling, and seemed to be the kind of person that drew all the eyes in the room like a light attracts a moth. She looked to be in her late twenties but her eyes were those of someone who was old before their time - a look familiar to me, because of Cecily.

My attention returned to Clary as she nervously stepped further from the stairs and closer towards me. She was just as nervous as I was, and I was glad; it made me feel normal, and that I wasn't alone.

The blonde lady sauntered over to me, looking curious. "Hello, you must be Jace. My name is Camille Belcourt, and for all intents and purposes, I am Clary, Ella and Isabelle's older sister." All intents and purposes? Were the girls adopted, like me and Alec? They must have been, because they didn't seem related.

"And I am Magnus the Magnificent, and I shall be addressed as such." A sparkly, clearly gay young man said. He, much like Camille, looked to be in his early twenties, and had strange gold and green eyes. I nodded at them both, shaking Magnus the Magnificent's outstretched hand and smiling tightly at Camille.

"Yes, I'm Jace. Nice to meet you."

"Just nice? I must say—"

Clary gave Magnus a light shove and interrupted him in a quiet voice directed at me.

"Ignore him, he hasn't had any alcohol yet today, so he is still rather intolerable. Should we go, or...?" she trailed off, looking uncomfortable. I nodded almost imperceptibly, and Clary started to follow me out the door. She waved at her large family, and I smiled politely at them as the door closed gently behind us.

As soon as the door closed behind us, I turned to Clary. "You okay? You seem tense." she waved me off with a seemingly carefree smile, and looked around the quiet neighbourhood, confused.

"Where's your car?" she asked. I smirked and beckoned, walking to my black Porsche Carrera. Clary followed me, her heels clicking sharply on the hard ground, alerting me to her presence. It reminded me of the time I had put a small bell around Church's neck because he had eaten a small pigeon and Amatis wanted to put a stop to the 'end of innocent lives'. Clary ran her fingertips along the smooth onyx coloured metal passenger side door, rightfully admiring my car. "It reminds me of Izzy's Lamborghini." was all she said before leaping into the car and relaxing into the plush dark leather seats with a sigh.

I swiftly followed suit, sliding into the smooth leather driving seat next to her, resting my elbow on the plastic, the familiar steering wheel settling against my palms. I flipped the ignition, smiling in satisfaction as the engine, which purred like a kitten, growled to life. Looking out for traffic, I drove through the city until I reached the Upper East Side, where Amatis' "house" - more like palace - was.

The familiar neatly mowed lawns filled my sight, the gardener, Aloysius Starkweather, tending to and pruning the already perfect red, blue, orange, pink and yellow rose bushes until they finally satisfied him. The smooth, white marble outer walls were polished until they shone, the tall glass windows of the Graymark household shimmering in the early afternoon beams of sunlight after being cleaned by Jem Carstairs, our faithful window cleaner. I swerved into my designated parking space, Aloysius, Jem and Amatis's cars parked in their respective spaces next to the Porsche. The elegant weeping willow tree loomed above my car, keeping it in constant shade and gently brushing against the hood of the car in stronger winds. Clary slipped out of the Porsche as I did, gawking at the shimmering enormity that was my home, the once intriguing flashy car long forgotten. I smiled at her obvious awe, leading her towards the expensive mahogany door to the threshold, which was a dark contrast to the pale walls and transparent windows. The door opened eerily silently, the lock clicking back into place as I gently closed it behind me. I padded softly through the plush beige carpets lining the floor of the foyer, expensive paintings hanging on the alabaster walls to my right, the mahogany spiral staircase twisting towards the upper floors on my left. Church, the cat, was curled up on the amber velvet armchair next to the door, his blue-grey fur rising and falling with every purred breath as he slept peacefully. The cat had started to nap a lot more frequently after he realised that hunting wasn't for him, what with the bell and all. He wasn't exactly… stealthy.

I made a beeline for the spacious kitchen that I knew lay ahead, Clary right behind me, momentarily distracted by the old house's grandeur. It was filled with artworks of all shapes and sizes, Shakespearian quotes, William Morris hard porcelain, otherwise known as China, decorative plates hanging on the walls, elaborate chandeliers hanging at regular intervals in all of the hallways and rooms apart from the bathroom. My favourite piece in the whole house was a large abstract painting the hung above a plush red loveseat which was seemingly abstract up close but when you stood back from it you could see that it was a painting of a boy with golden eyes. Amatis had bought it because she said that it had reminded her of me, and for years I couldn't work out why, until I was walking past and happened to glance at it and finally put the pieces together.

Multiple voices rang out from the kitchen; two unfamiliar, the third identifiable as Amatis's. Clary suddenly looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her, and I sent her way what I hoped to be a reassuring smile, probably distorted in my own nervous state. What would Amatis's brother and his partner think of me and Clary? Would Amatis approve of Clary at all? I pushed away my doubts and took Clary's hand in mine, squeezing it. She squeezed back. I then dragged her into the room, and possibly, her doom. **(AN: haha. That rhymed! Total accident, I tell you!) **

In the very centre of the room stood three towering figures; Amatis in a steely grey floor-length one-shouldered dress, who I supposed was Lucian in a midnight blue suit, and a statuesque red-haired woman in a violet dress who looked awfully familiar.

**CLARY POV**

The kitchen was huge, as was the rest of the household. Most of the artwork, I had noticed, had been signed JF. I loved this house – I could go on for hours about it, but then at that point, something else caught my eye.

Jace.

He seemed so at home here, like he belonged among the eloquent citizens of New York City who usually resided in houses like this. He seemed comforted by the tasteful artwork and old fashioned chandeliers, more at home than he was anywhere else. His eyes lit up the moment we entered the threshold, and his mood seemed to clear. Well, until we reached the kitchen.

The kitchen was enormous, with stainless steel everywhere – the fridge, freezer, stove, microwave, sink – and everything else was marble or wood; the floors and counters different shades of marble, the cupboards and pantry either mahogany or rosewood. But what really piqued my interest were the three figures conversing in there. A tall, middle-aged woman with bright blue eyes and brown hair with the slightest hints of grey running through it, brought out slightly by the elegant satin steely dress she wore. Next to her was a tall man with greying hair and bright blue eyes, much like the woman next to him. He wore a midnight blue suit with a white dress shirt peeking out from underneath. What can I say, I'm observational.

What really drew my attention was the third woman; statuesque, pale, red-haired. She almost looked like...

Jocelyn.

**JACE POV**

"Oh, hello, Jace," Amatis says as she notices me. "And who is this young beauty?" She asked, looking over Clary's attire, her face unreadable. I just hope that, judging from the compliment, she approves of her – for my sake_ and_ Clary's.

Clary stepped forwards nervously and held out her hand to Amatis. "Hello, you must be Jace's mother. I'm Clarissa Fairchild." She says with a polite smile. After a moment, Amatis takes her hand and shakes it lightly, smiling back at Clary.

"I'm Jace's adopted mother, actually. It's a pleasure to meet you, Clarissa." Amatis glanced at me sideways, her cold blue eyes boring into me, as if saying, _I approve_. Amatis waved the two of us further into the room, practically dragging Clary towards Amatis's brother and his partner. I'm incredibly surprised that Clary doesn't fall in those heels, though the look on her face tells me she is just as surprised as I am. "Why, how strange! Clarissa, you look almost exactly like Jocelyn!" Amatis announced enthusiastically. Clary turned towards the red haired woman, when a look of recognition briefly danced across her features and was hastily hidden from prying eyes while she smiled politely as she took Jocelyn's outstretched hand almost daintily.

**CLARY POV**

_I don't think I can touch her,_ I thought. I carefully schooled my features into a deceptively blank mask as I awkwardly took Jocelyn's hand. She seemed to recognise me also, copying my action of hiding her emotions from view. I was quickly introduced to Lucian Graymark - the man who stole my mother from my father. A memory of my parents' fight briefly flitted to the front of my mind before I hastily pushed it into the mental safe I had locked and labelled "DANGER" at the back of my mind. From my recollection, Lucian was a Eulysae, and that also made Amatis a Eulysae. God, this place was crawling with them! First Cecily, now these two. I wasn't sure about Sebastian - he seemed human enough, and completely confused when Cecily went psycho on us. But who knows?

And what on Earth was Jace doing surrounded by Eulysae?

Amatis was going on about how the house was built, and how old it was, and how it came into her possession, with Lucian and Jace listening, intrigued. Jocelyn looked as uncomfortable as I felt, and I eventually excused myself to go and get some fresh air, briefly catching Jace's concerned look directed at me. I walked along the perimeter of the large house for a few minutes before I felt, rather than saw, a presence nearby. I turned around to see the person and was not surprised to see Jocelyn.

"Clary! I can explain—"

"_Explain what?!"_ I growled. "That you left me and father - and the kingdom - because of a charming Eulysae and a blind hope of finding Jonathan? Anyway, I've found Jonathan, so that was all for practically nothing. I am pretty sure that he is the one we're looking for." Jocelyn paused.

"What's his name?"

"Jonathan Morgenstern."

Jocelyn's eyes flew wide in panic. "What? No! Clary, don't go near—"

"Is everything alright here?" a concerned Amatis asked. "I could hear the voices from the main house. Not words, just voices," she added hastily at Jocelyn and I's identical looks of alarm.

"Yes, everything's fine." Jocelyn stated calmly, smoothing down her dress and stepping towards me. She fished a small, white square of paper out of the black leather purse she held, opening my palm gently and putting the paper there before curling my fingers around it.

"Call me. Please. Just once, if you like. We can arrange meeting place and time, then I'll explain everything. I promise." she sounded so desperate, and something she'd never been before - scared. I flicked my gaze between each of her jade green eyes before nodding my head at her almost imperceptibly and stalking in those damn heels back towards the house.

**EULYSAE FEMALE POV**

I crept away through the undergrowth, undetected by all of the Calypsaï and Eulysae in the household. Thorns raked through my hair, whipping me in the face and scratching my bare arms. The weeping willow tree had smacked my ass multiple times while I played spy, and I was pissy as hell now, but I knew I couldn't take it out on my partner unless I wanted serious consequences. I yanked my cell phone out of my bra and dialled my partner in crime's number before bringing the light metal object to my ear.

"Partner." I spoke into the phone, striding quickly through the undergrowth in an effort to be out of ear shot to all people and things listening in on the conversation I was having at the moment.

"_This had better be important." _Was the only reply that came from the guy on the other end. I expected as much, though – we weren't really friends.

"It is, don't worry. Thanks for the heads up about the lunch thing, by the way. How did you find out?"

"_A large amount of sleuthing and nearly getting caught. Clary's family really ought to sound proof their walls – you can hear every word said and be undetected yourself. It's ridiculously easy, and Jace shouldn't leave his phone lying around for all to see." _I sighed – this wasn't the first time he'd done something like this, and last time the Boss had blamed me for it all. Thank god he hadn't gotten caught this time.

"Anyway, I have news on Clary and Jocelyn – they're very well acquainted; either related or close friends. Jace doesn't suspect a thing, and nor does anyone else. The Bosses were having a massive brawl about them the other day – screeching and pulling hair. It was downright hilarious, but we both know who won." I tried to change the subject quickly, just in case my partner got angry about my small amount of information about Clary and Jocelyn.

"_Yep, we do. Oh, by the way, none of the others can find out about this, okay? A bunch of them are already suspicious." _I knew who he was talking about – they hadn't half made it obvious, according to the other Boss.

"No, really? I didn't notice. Talk to you later, bye." I always resorted to sarcasm when these conversations got too long for my liking. Otherwise I would say something I would later seriously regret.

"_Bye."_ He hung up, clearly just as bored as I was at the conversation. I sighed gratefully, glad to get on with my night and regain some sleep.

I snapped the phone shut and shoved into my bra cup, hitching up the long skirt I wore, fleeing the Graymark household and venturing into the night, the only evidence that I'd been there the snapped twigs and silky material that I had left behind too fast for me to notice my mistake.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thoughts? Although, I can tell you right now, the 'Eulysae Female' is NOT Cecily. So her and the Eulysae Male are a bit of a puzzle. If you guess right, I will PM you about it, but I will not write on here who did guess right because that's too spoilery. ;) But don't worry, every single little loose end **_**will **_**be thoroughly explained by the end of the story, so you'll just have to wait and see!**

**Thank you especially to last chapter's reviewers, favouriters and followers:**

**-GirlWithASoul for the review**

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**Until next time,**

**-Physalie00**

**LINKS (also on my profile):**

**CLARY'S DRESS:**

** . /search?hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&biw=320&bih=416&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=sky+blue+knee+length+ruffle+dress&oq=sky+blue+knee+length+ruffle+dress&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3...60749.74132.0.74.3.1704.3-2j7-1.3.0...0.0...1ac.1.a6qjEXQNyGY#i=0**

**CLARY'S NECKLACE:**

** . /search?hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&biw=320&bih=356&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=silver+zircon+necklace&btnG=#i=16**

**CLARY'S EARRINGS:**

** . /search?hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&biw=320&bih=416&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=silver+zircon+earrings&oq=silver+zircon+earrings&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3...77764.109459.0.109..3167.2-2j1j2j1j1.7.0...0.0...1ac. #i=8**

**CLARY'S SHOES:**

** . /search?hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&biw=320&bih=416&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=silver+transparent+stilettoes&oq=silver+transparent+stilettoes&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3...74110.87076.0.87..1784.2-1j5-1j1.3.0...0.0...1ac.1.1tgn8XLo23o#i=2**

**CLARY'S CLUTCH:**

** . /search?hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&biw=320&bih=416&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=silver+clutch&oq=silver+clutch&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3..0l4j0i5.66140.72273.0.73..2058.3-2j0j2.4.0...0.0...1ac. #i=4**

**JOCELYN'S DRESS:**

** . /search?hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&biw=320&bih=416&tbm=isch&oq=purple+dress+&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3..0l5.48736.57731.0.58..3270.3-1j1j3j1.6.0...0.0...1ac.1.3EtTQ3p4t3A&q=purple%20dress#i=12**


	7. Chapter 6

**Here is the next chapter of Triton and Atlanta. I apologise in advance for the flitting between points of view around the middle of the text, and I tried to make it as easy to read as possible. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and it is early – about a week ago I updated, but be warned, the next chapter probably won't come out as promptly as this one did. I do have a plot outlined – every chapter has a plan – but if you want a particular scene done, PM me or review about it, and I'll get back to you on whether or not it works with the story that I've already outlined. More at the bottom!**

**CHAPTER 6 – CLARY POV**

I stared at the slip of creamy paper in my hand, crinkled from the time it spent in my purse. I sighed and closed my eyes, thinking of what had happened when Jace dropped me off from his parent's lunch date thing, and what to do in the aftermath of those events.

_*Flashback* _

_The winding streets of Brooklyn stretched out before us, the dark roads and shiny rainwater shimmering under the glow of the neon street lamps. Jace ran a hand through his already tousled curly gold hair and breathed out heavily. "What did Jocelyn want?" He asked, curious._

_I frowned down at my clutch, almost feeling the weight of the light paper inside it weighing me down, begging me to open the purse, to bring out my phone and dial the number hastily scrawled on the now crumpled paper. Different scenarios of how Jace would take the truth flitted through my mind, and I dismissed them all as they were disastrous. I could lie, not answer, or change the subject, but two out of three of those go-to solutions would be even more suspicious and would draw unwanted attention to the question at hand. I ran through believable lies that I could pull off and feed to Jace without making a mistake, and selected one at random._

_"Oh, nothing. Something about us being a 'good match' and whatnot." I smoothly lied, hoping that the vagueness of the message wouldn't be analysed too deeply and would be mistaken for hesitation on the topic of Jace and I's very complicated relationship._

_I hated lying to Jace. It was like lying to a toddler - you felt terrible about it afterwards and the fact that they innocently accepted your lie for the truth made it make you feel even worse about the lie. _

_But it had to be done - it wasn't like I could just randomly blurt out the fact that Jocelyn was my mother who had been missing for ten years on a quest to find my lost brother who, with the other boys who disappeared with him, held the key to the survival of the secret race that I belonged to and would help rule one day. I bet that would go down well, along with my visit to the mental institution._

_The still puddles in the potholes on the sidewalk by my house reflected the dark night sky, luminescent stars and the glorious waxing - or was it waning? - Crescent moon, the image distorted with ripples as the Porsche's black tyres ran through it. Although the original plan had been a lunch date, Amatis had kept us for dinner as well after playing an awkward game of cards and thoroughly interviewing me about my backgrounds and my connection to Jace. Thankfully with little criticism towards my attire. _

_Jace walked me up to the heavy front door, his palm on the small of my back an almost searing heat, even through the silky turquoise material of my dress. When we both stood under the porch in front of the door, I turned to him to thank him for the day and the lifts to and from his house, as his full lips brushed the corner of mine ever so slightly, a feather light touch that had my nerves tingling and senses hyperaware of Jace – his smell, where he was, his touch, his looks. Everything was frozen and in slow motion and my brain tried to numbly process what was happening. _

_As I stood frozen awkwardly, my hyper-active brain repeated the thought, _He missed my cheek when I turned my head, _although I sincerely hoped he hadn't, and he was aiming for where I'd hoped. He drew away ever so slightly, a slight pink hue staining his usually tanned angular cheekbones, his breath coming out in quick little wisps in the cool night air. The overhead lamp illuminated his fair hair so that it shone like brass in the dim light of the porch, his eyes embarrassed yet brighter than ever, reminding me of the manga and animé characters that Si had shown me that showed all of their emotions through their eyes like a portal to their minds._

_"I—" he began nervously, drawing back from me even more and wringing his hands uncomfortably in front of him. He looked to be experiencing the same feelings I was – embarrassment, distress, awkwardness, confusion, and… disappointment? I felt a spark of hope at that, extinguished as I had to leap out of the way to avoid the opening door._

_Bright light filled the porch as the heavy wooden front door swung open with Camille staring at us both, her blonde curls bouncing slightly as she transferred her emerald gaze from Jace, to me, and back again, with her briefly examining the small but growing amount of space between us and the flush on both of our cheeks. Jace stepped away hastily, nearly tripping over his feet with a slightly dazed look in his amber eyes. It was the first time I had ever seen him without his usual grace and natural confidence – almost arrogance - and with a forced smile in my direction and a formal nod to Cam, he spun around towards his onyx car, leapt in and swung the heavy black driver's side door behind him, and drove off into the night._

_*Flashback End*_

I buried my face in my hands as I thought over the mess that was Jace and I's relationship. All night I had been spooked after the sharp snapping sound of a dry, fallen twig in the neatly kept garden behind the Graymark household, but when I turned around, despite my fears, there was nothing but swaying jade leaves and patches of almost silky looking emerald foliage that rustled nearly irregularly with the wind.

I would have sworn I had heard voices a few seconds after I had inspected the area, but I put it down to lack of sleep on my part and strong winds whistling through the trees. There was some old movie that mundanes loved about a talking weeping willow tree – what was it called… Pocahontas maybe?

I debated whether to call Jocelyn or not, going over the pros and cons in my mind and picking up the cool to the touch phone to see of it swayed my decision one way or another, when the door was flung open and thumped the wall behind it with a bang as Raphael strode in with purpose and that endless supply of dignity that he seemed to have.

Raphael was in his thirties but was seemingly ageless to anyone who didn't know his birth date – he had had plenty of sixteen year old girls hit on him, thinking that he was only twenty or so, so he was a master in the art of subtly turning down girls and sneaking away from unwanted attention by girls young enough to be his daughters. He resembled those mundanes that looked to be of Hispanic origin, with dark curly hair and eyebrows and lashes that curled up at the ends, deep chocolaty eyes that Ella, as a nine year old, had referred to as looking life 'un-barfed chocolate' and dark olive skin. He spoke with a strong Calypsaï accent that mundanes obnoxiously mistook for a Spanish accent, because he, unlike most of the Calypsaï, was not brought up bilingual and had learned and spoke English as his second language, with Calypsaï as his mother language. He was always insulted when girls told him, 'Sexy Spanish accent. I like it,' because it wasn't Spanish and he thought that it was blasphemy to Calypso to disrespect her language (he was always incredibly loyal to our race). That was part of the reason that Valentine had chosen him to be our 'guardian' – he could teach us more about our culture and beliefs while we were away from the palaces of Triton and Atlanta, deep in the Bermuda Triangle, hidden from mundane divers and submarines by a strong glamour cast by the original Triton and Atlanta.

"And what is this?" He spoke with his strong Calypsaï drawl, snatching up the slip of paper before I could protest. He read it swiftly, his cocoa eyes skimming over the words, before turning to me, dark brows furrowed in confusion and betrayal from my withholding of information about my mother. "Jocelyn's cell phone number? _The_ Jocelyn, or am I talking about some random Jocelyn that you met at school or in Idris who wrote her phone number and 'call me, I can explain' on a piece of wrinkled paper that was later passed on to you? Clary, why didn't you tell me before? Did you obtain this piece of _vital _information recently, or has it brewing for quite some time now before you planned on telling us?"

I cast my eyes towards the carpeted floor before raising my green eyed gaze slowly. "Yes, Raphael, _the _Jocelyn. I met her at Jace's mother – well, adoptive mother's - lunch date yesterday and it turns out that Lucian Graymark is the brother of Jace's adoptive mother, Amatis Graymark, and Lucian is Jocelyn's current partner. She wants to meet up with me and explain everything. I was too busy going over the details of last night, and I planned on telling you later today." I paused briefly, cocking my head to the left slightly. "Are you really mad?" I asked timidly, afraid of the answer and/or the reaction to my question but wanting – no, _needing _– to know his answer and reasons anyway.

Before I knew what was happening, Raphael had grabbed my phone and had dashed out of my room. He had always been a miles faster runner than me, and much better at navigating the complicated twists and turns of this house, so with a head start the size of the one he just gotten, there was no way in hell that I would catch him before he reached his destination – wherever that destination was. But I had to at least try to stop him from whatever he was doing, so I ran as fast as I could without skidding along the hardwood floors and down the steep staircase, thinking that if I fell and broke my ankle or leg on the treacherous, shiny, _slippery_ wood of the stairs, I would be extremely angry at both Raphael and myself for going in pursuit of the precious piece of paper that Raphael held.

"Camille! Magnus! Helen! Come quick!" He exclaimed, much to my dismay. He raced into the kitchen, skidding Roger-Federer-on-a-tennis-court style, dialling the number on my phone as he went with me in pursuit, putting the call on speaker as the other three adults entered the room.

"What—" Raphael cut Helen off with a finger to his lips and gestured towards the ringing phone.

_"Jocelyn Graymark speaking." _Came the cheerful yet formal voice from the other end of the phone, like the checkout ladies in the supermarket, saying, _Hello, how can I help you? _It didn't sound like the woman I'd met last night at all – like a completely different person living a completely different life. So this was clearly the façade she used for the mundane and Eulysae worlds.

"Ah, Jocelyn! It's been so long - what, ten years?" Came Raphael's friendly yet extremely condescending and disapproving voice. He was basically saying, _Nice of you not to call your daughter's family for her whole childhood. _But he was absolutely right, and Jocelyn knew it.

A crackling gasp rang through the phone, the static messing up the sound. Jocelyn knew exactly who was on the other end of the line, and probably felt very guilty because she had probably guessed who was listening in on the conversation.

_"Raphael? Is that really you? Is Clary there?" _Jocelyn suddenly sounded much more desperate. Here was the woman behind the cold, calculating façade. Here was the woman I met last night. Here was Jocelyn Tritos.

"Yes and yes, my darling. But that's not what this is about, so you'd better listen up, okay? And I'm afraid, as per custom, you must visit the Triton _palazzo _with us. In six hours we begin the journey to your old home, and you know the punishment for disobeying the Law, especially for this long." and with that, Raphael hung up on my mother and left the kitchen without another word to anyone.

**JACE POV**

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The sound of the basketball – and my heartbeat – rebounding off the white ceiling was comforting, but did nothing to stop my thoughts. Which is what I wanted.

What I needed.

But I couldn't get Clary and The Kiss off my mind. I needed a release from all these thoughts; What had I been _thinking_? What did Camille see? And most importantly, what would have happened next, had we not been interrupted?

I haven't been in contact with Clary for about six hours, but it feels like six days. I want - _need_ - to call her, text her, _something_. I just to talk to someone, and at any other time, she would have been ideal.

My door creaked open, with Alec poking his head through the narrow gap of light revealed by the door, his ruffled black hair falling into his concerned blue eyes. Alec was my best friend, practically my brother. I had my cool and collected façade on at the moment, but he always had been someone who could read my like a book. I twisted slightly on Alec's bed – I hadn't gone home last night to Amatis's, but here instead, because it was quiet and had always helped me think, for as long as I can remember.

"Thinking Clary thoughts?" he asked. Something flashed across his face - pain? - but it disappeared before I could really register it, and anyway, what about Clary would Alec find painful? _This, _I thought, _is what happens when I don't get enough sleep because I'm lying awake in bed, thinking about a certain red haired girl. _

"What do I do, Alec?" I sighed. Alec tilted his head slightly, thinking hard about his answer so as to not set of the ticking time bomb that he knew I was.

"Why don't you call Izzy or Ella? Clary will probably be avoiding you, but they'll pick up, if only to find out what happened between the two of you. I think..." This was the Alec I knew. Bright and full of good ideas, and as serious as ever. But it was the best I had by a long shot, and I planned on doing it. I turned to Alec, my decision resolved.

"Give me your phone."

**CLARY POV**

Five hours and fifty-seven minutes later, Jocelyn arrived at the door in a beach cover-up and green one piece swimsuit. Her garnet hair is salt-sprayed and wind swept and even curlier before from the exposure to sea water, making me think that she must have prayed to Triton and Atlanta in the nearby park using the Salt of Calypso that all Eulysae and Calypsaï carried. Tapping the tribal tattoo on our arms channelled our power, and we could summon pure, violet salt crystals (the Salt of Calypso) for whenever we wanted an audience with our patrons.

My family miraculously appeared behind me as I follow Jocelyn out of the house and towards Izzy's car, all of us climbing in and embracing that 'new car smell' given off by the smelly tag thing hanging from the rear view mirror.

Little did I know, if we had left our Brooklyn home roughly five seconds later, one of us might have heard Isabelle's upbeat ringtone echoing throughout the house.

**JACE POV**

_"Hello, you have reached Isabelle's mother, Helen. I am very sorry to say that my girls are sick and therefore will be absent from school for about two weeks. Please leave a message after the tone and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Sorry once again for any inconvenience, Helen Blackthorn." _

Absent from school for two weeks? Wasn't that kind of overdoing it? And why was Izzy's mother the one on her voicemail recording?

Maybe they were all just avoiding me. I wouldn't be surprised... Well, maybe I would be.

But I didn't know what to do. Clary and her family are clearly unavailable, and it sounds like they'll stay that way for two weeks or more. I was kicking myself for not calling earlier, and wondering just how bad their illness was for them to be off school for two whole weeks when a cold takes most people one day to recover from - or maybe it wasn't an illness at all. There always had been something ever so slightly... Off, about Clary's family, and their reaction to me at the door and Cecily in the beach house in Idris. To be fair, Cecily had been acting just as weirdly as they'd been, but Clary was awfully suspicious on the beach in Idris, and Cecily was no excuse for that. But the worst thing about the beach experience was, to my annoyance, that I couldn't quite push the flash of a colourful, scaly fish-like tail out of my mind.

What was going on?

**ELLA POV**

My memory of Tritos was fuzzy and altogether blank at some parts, but I'm pretty sure that I would have remembered this, even from ten years ago. I was a pretty smart six, nearly seven year old, thank you very much.

Almost toxic looking black sludge leaked out of a once magnificent palace in whisps and coils broken up into patterns by the gently currents of the underwater kingdom, and tarnished and scratched mother of pearl and broken sand dollars lay scattered around the area.

Snapped and dead coral crunched every time someone in our group so much brushed against it. There was no life - fish, Calypsaï or other, and the place seemed desolate and hopeless. The only ruins remaining of Valentine's castle was the conch shell watch tower that was missing half of its roof.

Where were the other Calypsaï? They had left no traces - that is, if there were any survivors. But there must have been, right? We weren't that weak. But I had my doubts about our current numbers - yes, there would be some more of us, but the reek of Eulysae power poisoned the water around us and made the area completely uninhabitable. And it's not like Valentine had left a useful sigh saying "TRITOS RELOCATED TO MEDIT7ERANEAN" or anything.

The glamour to shield the underwater realm from prying mundane eyes shimmered as Raphael broke through it. It flickered, briefly showing the plain, greying coral reef that was visible to mundanes, then returned to its once glorious original palace. Camille, Helen, Magnus and Jocelyn swiftly followed Raphael into the kingdom, Clary, Isabelle and I hesitating at the border before following them in.

My heart broke at the close up we were given after breaking through the visual barrier. Dead Calypsaï and Eulysae lay scattered around, dented and shattered armour, swords and shields surrounding each late combatant. Thankfully, only a couple of dead women and children were dead, but the worst part of the whole battle was the boy near the watch tower.

He had clearly been trying to escape from an enemy soldier, frantically swimming away from the war ground, but in his haste to get away he had not seen the sharp, cone shell spire that topped the tower and had speared himself on it through the abdomen.

Clary choked up next to me, also noticing the young, dead boy. Tears leaked from my eyes and were whipped away by the slow current in the salty water around us. I swam over to the boy, looking over the dead warriors and putting my hand over my heart.

"Ave atque vale," I called, my voice carrying and echoing over the deserted plain. _Hail and farewell._

The adults bowed their heads respectively, kissing two fingers and then holding them above their heads in a salute to our dead; a Calypsaï custom. Clary and Isabelle repeated the action, eyes red and heartbroken at the loss at our fellow citizens that we failed to protect.

But they clearly put up a good fight, if ten years later they are finally defeated. I think that if we had been a few hours earlier, we could have helped. But if we had, then we may have also been killed in the carnage, and we are no use to our people dead.

Raphael waved his hand for us to continue to the shrine of Calypso, where a constant supply of the Salt of Calypso lay, and also where Calypso's spirit was fabled to rest. It was by far the most powerful point to pray from, and it was rumoured to be the birthplace of Triton and Atlanta also.

The story of Triton and Atlanta is complicated and intense. They were star crossed lovers, if you like - each created by Calypso to destroy the other and decide which part of Calypso's kingdom would continue the ruling after she died. But much like any love story, they fell in love (who would have guessed?) and are expected to kill each other in the final battle. But, alas, Atlanta commits suicide instead of killing her lover, and Triton follows suit as soon as he finds out. The location of the kingdoms Triton and Atlanta are the individual burial grounds of the couple, and the palaces were built over the top of them.

Jocelyn shaking her head and indicating towards the surface brings me out of my haze, and we all follow Jocelyn to the nearby island of Bermuda to rest in an isolated cove from our tiresome journey. Sebastian skips across my thoughts briefly, but disappears as sleep lures me into its clutches and I am conscious no more.

**SEBASTIAN POV**

A creak on the stairs snaps me out of my dreams about Ella pole dancing in a figure hugging corset and garter (I don't have a dirty mind, I have a sexy imagination) and I sit upright, listening carefully. Another creak and a muttered curse assures me that the first sound wasn't just my hyperactive imagination, but really was someone sneaking past my room in Cecily's beach house.

After I hear the quiet footsteps descend the stairs, I leap out of bed, past my door and slink down the stairs as silently as possible in my dozy state. In the kitchen is Cecily, grabbing a... Glowing knife? And sneaking out of the door. Glancing around, I snatch up the spare steak knife lying on the counter and make one of the stupidest decisions I've ever made, and I have made a _lot _of stupid decisions in my lifetime.

I follow her.

**Good? Bad? Average? Let me know!**

**The prompt update of this chapter was partly because I had a bunch of inspiration (not saying where from) and partly because of the reviewers and followers this chapter! Thank you especially to:**

**-mortalinstrumentsgurl1 for still managing to review every chapter, reviewing this chapter three minutes after I had posted it! **

**-Guest for the review**

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**That's all for last chapter, so stay tuned and review, follow and favourite!**

**-Physalie00**


	8. Chapter 7

**Here's the next chapter! It was just over 2 weeks between this one and the last one, so it could have been worse! I had a rowing regatta then a swimming meet on Saturday and an assignment to finish on Sunday, so I didn't get an opportunity to type this up and post it until today. I hope it's not too late! More at the bottom!**

**CHAPTER 7 - CLARY POV**

I flopped onto the bed in the exact position I had been in thirteen days ago. My phone lay suspiciously quietly next to me, like a loud outburst would finally make me explode like the tired, short-tempered ticking time bomb that I was. As I pressed the home button to light up the screen, I was shocked to see 28 missed calls from Jace, 4 from Maia, 3 from Sebastian and 7 voicemail messages, courtesy of Jace. I was touched that they were concerned, but it made me feel even worse that my absence hadn't gone unnoticed and that I had probably scared everyone. I had a funny feeling, like something bad was going to happen to me soon, but then again, exhaustion and little social contact often does that to me. Even though it was pretty late, now was better than never to read through and listen to the messages before I gave someone a heart attack.

I prepared myself to run through the voicemail messages one by one, wondering what had been said and if I should reply to them. I just steeled myself and pressed 'call'.

_Clary? It's Jace. I tried calling Izzy because I figured you would be avoiding me, and I heard that you will be missing for two weeks. Is that true?_

_Hi, it's still Jace. Clary, I need you to call me back soon._

_Clary, you weren't in class today. Can we please talk? It's Jace, by the way._

_Clary, you've missed two days of school. How deadly is this stomach bug? Jace._

_Clary, where are you? I'm worried now. Please call me. _

_Clary, I'm sorry about the lunch date, but I need you to talk to me._

_Clary... Are you okay?_

I almost cried from the despair and concern in his last message, so I wrote a note to myself to visit him tomorrow and fell asleep, not caring how soaking I was from the water. Not caring that I looked like I had a flock of birds nesting in my hair. Not caring about the tangy taste of salt in my mouth or the crusty salt crystals around my eyebrows and cheekbones. I thought of Jace, and only Jace, and soon enough, I fell into a deep sleep.

**JACE POV**

I was so worried about Clary, I couldn't think about anything else. I knew it was pretty late at night and I had school in the morning, but I was so worked up about her that I ended up researching her on the Internet, under 'Clary Fairchild'. I know, a little stalker-ish, but what else was I supposed to do?

_Clarissa 'Clary' Fairchild, 30 Orchard Avenue, Miami, FL…_

_Clary Fairchild, 13 Angel Cove, Los Angeles, CA…_

_Clarissa Fairchild, Chevalier College, Massachussets, MA…_

_Clary Fairchild, 28 Beach Drive, Orlando, FL…_

_Clary Fairchild, 58 Florence Street, New Orleans, LA…_

_Clary Fairchild, 104 George's Head Road, San Francisco, CA…_

_Iz TruBlud3 said: "Clary Fairchild is such a babe!..."_

The results went on and on. There couldn't be this many Clary Fairchilds in the world. Clary wasn't a common name, but Fairchild was practically unheard of, and there were pages upon pages of results for 'Clary Fairchild'. So maybe...

Maybe it was the same person.

**CLARY POV**

I woke up bright and early for school the next day, throwing on a floral sundress and brown leather boots almost randomly. I was like a Zombie waiting for Jace; I had barely slept last night in the anticipation of seeing him again. I missed him a lot, and I hadn't seen him in two weeks. Had he had his hair cut? Is the chip in his tooth fixed? Is he back with Aline? That was the point where I tried to cut off my train of thoughts before I "accidentally" murdered Aline next time I saw her. I'm sure that would go down well with the Principal. Not to mention what Camille would say…

I felt horribly guilty for not calling him back last night. He probably thought I was dead! But I had had things to do, and as much as I liked Jace, my kingdom and my people always came first. I had a duty as Princess – and future Queen. As did Izzy and Ella. We needed to make the right decisions at the right times and learn how to prioritise. Ella pretty much had that down, and Izzy was… Izzy. And I knew that although Jace was important, my country came first.

I flew down the stairs, downing a cereal bar as I went. I whirled out of the door and practically tackled Izzy, who was quietly reading on her iPad at the kitchen counter, looking gorgeous and sophisticated as usual, insisting that she needed to get the car going and drive to school. She nodded and seemed to understand, walking gracefully down the pathway leading out of the house and to the car before leaping into the car with Ella gliding into the backseat after her as I hastily jumped into the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt while Izzy carefully drove off.

As soon as we arrived at the school parking lot, I leapt out of the car, slamming the door behind me. I then hastily snatched my tote bag from the boot and dashed towards the old building, a total nervous wreck about seeing Jace again after so long.

**CLARY POV**

The building seemed suddenly ominous, like I wouldn't like what I was about to discover. I didn't know if that was true. I had been away for two weeks and I really didn't know what to expect. The azure sky of the Wednesday morning lit up the grounds, almost teasing my dull mood. I scowled at the intimidating doors where I knew I would be the centre of attention – in the wrong way.

I went in anyway.

As soon as I had passed through the glass doors, conversations stopped and the only thing that I heard was the soft thud of the doors closing behind me. Then the whispers began, and the stares bored into me as I stood near the entrance awkwardly and I suddenly felt very alone. Then I saw Jace. Gold halo of hair, brilliant tawny eyes, and the leech otherwise known as Aline stuck to his arm.

She saw me out of her peripheral vision, making a show of wrapping her arm around Jace's waist and tugging him towards me. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw me, and then dimmed as if I was the last thing he wanted to see. It stung. A lot. But Aline kept on mercilessly dragging him to me until she was right in front of me, her Nutmeg perfume making me gag. How Jace actually managed to get that close to her without suffocating, I had no clue.

Aline smiled a sweet, saccharine smile. A smile that was fake. But the look in her eyes told me there was more than there had originally seemed. I turned my burning gaze to Jace. He looked disappointed - in himself? - and gently pushed Aline away after whispering something in her ear that made her go deathly pale. Jace backed away from me with a look that said, _Not now, Clary. _And sped down the hall through the throng of gathering witnesses. After he had left, conversations started up again and traffic in the hallway resumed as if nothing had happened, apart from the occasional unfriendly and suspicious glance in my direction.

But at the moment, I couldn't have cared less. I followed Jace discreetly and hopefully quietly, padding softly down the hallways in pursuit so that he wouldn't notice me and only onlookers who were specifically scrutinising me would realise who I was following, and where. But I continued shadowing Jace undetected and grew more nervous and the crowd thinned out and it would become clear that I wasn't just wandering aimlessly; that I was, in fact, following someone. Jace. His destination was a complete mystery to me, and he just kept walking through the practically deserted corridors and I tried to make myself stealthier so that I could see the end result of this expedition into seemingly nowhere.

Jace walked out the side exit of the block into the commons to one side of the school. No windows looked over here apart from fourth floor science labs, and the thick foliage of oak and pine trees covered the area in speckled patches of light. It was quiet and secluded, and I hadn't even known that this place existed. It was beautiful; someplace I would love to draw. The contrast between the green summer leaves and the freshly fallen browning leaves was hypnotic, and I had to force myself not to stop and to keep quiet. I decided to make my appearance known, because there had been enough silence and if I said nothing then I would just get angrier and angrier with Jace. So I finally stopped and steeled myself.

"What was that?" I asked, deliberately slowly.

Jace froze and slowly, slowly turned around to look me in the eye. However, he didn't look me in the eye; he looked at a point just above my left eyebrow. I observed the dark bags under his eyes and his slightly sunken cheekbones, as if he hadn't been eating enough or sleeping enough. "I broke up with Aline." he replied in a monotone. His gaze didn't waver from its fixation on my forehead.

"Did you sleep with her first?" it just slipped out; I couldn't help it. If I could have taken it back, I would. I cast my eyes down to the leafy floor underfoot in embarrassment at my private and personal question. Because really, it wasn't any of my business. And he shouldn't feel obligated to answer.

"Before I met you, yes. After you left? No." at least he answered truthfully. I think. But I had already gathered that he wasn't a virgin, so I tried to overlook who he did it with. And failed miserably. My expression must have given me away, because Jace cast his eyes to the ground in what looked like shame. But it could have been worse, and thinking about it, I was glad that he hadn't done it with her after he had met me. Jace lifted his gaze back to my face, looking at me. _Really _looking at me, in the eyes, his gold eyes sad and desperate.

"Clary, where were you?"

And the weight of all those voice messages came flooding back. All of the desperate and concerned words, and images of Jace in a thousand different angles and lights flew through my mind, and I pushed away my negative thoughts and hesitation towards Jace as I dashed through the crunchy autumn leaves and tackled him.

He made a little _oomph_ sound, a few pitches higher than usual which I found extremely endearing, as I knocked him to the ground. I wrapped my arms tightly around his broad shoulders, holding him tight as if letting go would mean losing him forever. My heart hammered in my ribs as I breathed in his familiar scent and basked in the feeling of the mere proximity of Jace. He ran his calloused, warm, soothing fingers through my wild fiery curls, burying his face in the locks, holding me just as tightly as I held him. I looked up at his face, and he looked at me. And I knew then, that even with leaves in his hair and mud smeared on his cheek, that Jace Herondale was the most beautiful boy I knew. Both inside and out, because I knew that it must take a hell of a lot of patience to put him through what I'd put him through and then forgive me right afterwards. I was happy. Really, truly, happy. And although today had started terrible, it was perfect right here, right now.

Then the only thing that could make this moment better happened; the most beautiful boy I knew kissed me, right on the lips.

**EULYSAE FEMALE POV**

Oh, dear God, those two are _disgusting_. I watched them from my hiding place, wrinkling my nose. If anyone saw me here, I would be in deep shit with Clary especially because of the compromising position I was watching them in. Aline and Jace were okay, but there was none of this sappy, girly stuff going on in the background. It was mainly Aline trying to jump Jace. All. The. Fucking. Time. I learnt a lot from my secretive spying, and I felt that the more I knew about Jace Herondale, the more confused I got.

It never worked though, with Aline trying to jump Jace. And I had orders to tear these two apart – far, far apart – so that they could never restore what they have now and to kill the Calypsaï princes. Tonight, I would make my move. For good or for bad. So Jace and Clary had better watch themselves… because you never know when the shark will attack.

**JACE POV**

I don't know what came over me with Clary. I just... Kissed her. Like I'd wanted to for ages. Like I meant it. And since she hadn't punched me in the face yet, I figured that it was going well so far, but hey! Only time will tell.

Her lips were soft and warm, and all the emotion that kissing Aline had lacked was there. It wasn't hot and heavy or anything like that - just comforting, peaceful, and loving. It was different to what I usually experienced, because all of those girls had been attracted to my looks, and the relationship was purely physical. But the emotional level with Clary was like nothing I'd ever experienced before, and I was seriously thrilled at what would happen between us next.

But while Clary had been gone, things with Aline had gotten worse and worse. I had found a note taped inside my locker with a photo of Aline kissing another girl, just as passionately as I would kiss Clary. The caption under the image was named 'Aline and Sandy, Lesbian at Last'. It was a terrible line, but if it was spread, Aline's reputation would be ruined, and I couldn't do that to her. So we had agreed to fake date. This façade had been kept up during the time that Clary was away, and all that I had said to Aline when Clary had re-appeared was 'I'm sorry', because I figured that Aline had deserved the warning.

I hadn't been planning on telling anyone anytime soon about Aline's secret but I figured Clary had a right to know, and I doubt that she would intentionally spread the rumour just to get back at Aline, because that was one thing that Clary wasn't – cruel.

I gently broke off the kiss, looking into Clary's eyes as she said one word. A very important word.

"Explain."

So I did.

**DRAMA CLASS - LATER ON THAT DAY**

Clary and I, much to everyone's surprise (and relief) walked into drama class together, hand in hand. It was ten minutes into second period, but the teacher still hadn't turned up. Kids were throwing paper planes, shouting, laughing and texting. Aline stood out, ghastly pale and completely still in the corner next to Kaelie.

I had explained everything to Clary, but I needed to tell Aline about the changes in our current predicament. I lead her towards the cupboard doors and spoke in hushed tones so that no one could overhear, because that would be disastrous for both me and Aline.

"Aline, I think you need to come out. If not now, soon." she stared up at me blankly, like my suggestion was so terrible that it wasn't even considerable. This may be the case, but I really hope not, because an uncooperative Aline is the last thing the world needs. So I braced myself for the answers she may give, the majority of them probably disastrous.

"Why should I?" She asked. Her question was petulant, like a young child whining, and her brown eyes bore into mine as she pouts and frowns to try to sway my decision. It doesn't work.

"Because the longer you pretend, the worse it's going to be. My advice is to get together with your current girl - Sandy, is it? - and explain the situation. Then, just discreetly act like you're together. Don't act suspicious or completely blank Sandy, because that will make things worse because no one will be able to understand why you are together. If you act like close friends, then people may be able to understand why you fell for each other. When you have the courage, kiss somewhere public on school grounds." Aline sighed. I waited for the worst, because let's face it – that's generally what you got from Aline.

"Fine. But if everything goes horrible, it's your fault." and with that merry thought, Aline went back to her conversation with Kaelie back at her table. I stood still, fretting about the attention, before Clary pulled me out of my daze by pulling me towards our friends at their table. Izzy looked up at Clary and I's interlocked fingers and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, hallelujah, praise the lord! You guys finally—" She cut off abruptly as everyone's gaze was drawn to the doors as the drama studio suddenly quieted as the double doors creaked open and a tall man strode in with confidence practically radiating out from him.

He was unlike any teacher that St. Xavier's had ever seen before; tall, Asian and flamboyantly gay. St. Xavier's had a tendency to hire the straight A graded, sexually straight and perfectionists who were recipes for disaster in the world of teaching. This man was the exact opposite, and must be pretty spectacular to even get a job interview with the staff. The Principal was a rumoured homophobic, so it was odd but also strangely refreshing to see a new, _unique_ face around here. But change isn't always good, so we'll have to see.

The substitute - or new - teacher was extremely tall, around 6'5", and his height was accentuated by his lanky build. He looked to be of Asian origin, with exotic and almost leonine looks that consisted of almond shaped startling green and gold eyes, olive skin and pink and blue dyed glossy black hair. His powerful gaze swept over the student body before him, lingering especially on the 'attractive' men with darker hair in general. I was straight as can be, so of course I felt a little uncomfortable when the teacher looked me over, but it was over almost before it had started when his gaze moved on to Alec.

Poor Alec looked like a deer caught in the headlights under the extremely familiar new teacher. His cheeks were flushed scarlet and his eyes were wide in surprise and the new teacher stared and stared at him for a fairly extensive period of time. And that was when I realised that maybe Alec's sexual orientation may not have been what I had originally assumed it to be.

**CLARY POV**

I watched the new 'teacher' scan the startled audience filling the tiered auditorium, trying not to laugh at the straight boys' shocked expressions as he blatantly checked them out. Alec was the one that our new drama teacher focused on, and he was clearly alluded but uncomfortable under the familiar man's scrutiny, and I had doubted Alec's sexuality before, this really sent alarm bells ringing. Truth be told, I had never seem Alec with a partner - guy or girl - so his sexuality was still open to judgement. Then the familiar drama teacher introduced himself.

"Hello, darlings. I'm your teacher this year until your Principal finds a 'suitable' replacement. I am Mr Bane, but feel free to call me Magnus the Magnificent." My great Calypsaï friend took an over exaggerated bow.

The class snickered, with Jace chuckling behind me and Isabelle accidentally snorting on my left. This just made me laugh harder, even through my anger at Magnus feeling the need to supervise me. Or was he on the hunt for more Eulysae in disguise? Either way, it was a little insulting to find that he didn't feel that I was responsible enough to deal with it along with Izzy and Ella.

Ella was reasonable and responsible, probably more so that Izzy and I combined. Izzy was the joker of the group, who 'let loose' with alcohol at parties and had dated half of America's attractive male population. The only attractive men she hadn't dated were gay men and guys from Las Vegas, because we'd never actually been there. I was... In between, the least attractive, and the shortest. Sometimes I wonder why they even stick with me, but then I think of the reasons why they can't leave me.

I don't have the most reassuring thoughts.

The rest of drama class was fun and games, getting to know each other, getting to know Magnus, and playing concentration games. One of the games involved a game called "Anyone Who" and involved a person in the middle calling out something they had in common with people around them. There was a circle of chairs for one too little people and the aim was to stay out of the middle more than three times. At one point, the theme was "Anyone who... Has killed their cat." and Magnus was the only one who stood up. He lost his seat and ended up in the middle and began the heart wrenching tale of how he ran over his cat, Chairman Meow, with a Bentley. The anecdote had the whole class in hysterics within seconds.

I think the class really like Magnus, mainly because of his easy humour and conversations, and the fact that after those games, they knew him better than they knew any other teacher. But the bell eventually rang, accompanied by a chorus of groans and complaints, but eventually the student body trickled out of the double doors to their next class.

When most of the class had dispersed and only the odd straggler was left behind, Jace and I approached Magnus with wide grins on both of our faces.

"Magnus!" I called happily. I bounded up to him, dragging Jace along behind me as I raced to greet my adoptive father. Even if I wasn't sure of his motives here at St. Xavier's, I still loved him as a father and treasured my time with him.

"How are you, Clary?" Magnus spun around to face me and crushed me to his chest in his signature bear hug, grinning and ruffling my hair affectionately. Once he released me and allowed me to breathe again, a waved Jace and I's interlocked fingers in front of his face with glee, my smile stretching ever wider.

Magnus smiled knowingly and winked. "So you're very happy, I see," he said slyly, waggling his eyebrows at Jace and smiling smugly.

"You could say that." Jace replied with a nonchalant one shouldered shrug. I smiled even wider, squeezing his hand gently in mine. He squeezed back before continuing, "It's nice to see you again, Mr Bane. How goes life in Brooklyn?" he asked with a cheeky little smirk, reminding me of Jace's last encounter with Magnus at my house. How could I have forgotten?

"And you, Jace. Life goes well in Brooklyn. But, as much as I live talking to Clary's 'hot' boyfriend, I have another class to teach, and the Principal only needs a tiny excuse such as me being late - again - to fire me on my first day." Magnus turned back to me. "I'll see you at home. Have fun with Jace, Clary. Don't do anything that I wouldn't do!" he winked coyly, the message clear.

"But Magnus darling, you'd do anything." I looked over my shoulder to see Izzy and Ella coming towards us, Izzy's mouth quirked as she waited for Magnus's reply to her comment.

"Exactly." and with that, Magnus the Magnificent strode out of the drama department and towards his next class.

Ella turned to Jace and I, making sure we were listening. "We're heading up to Idris again tomorrow night," she said slowly. "Invite your friends, Jace; the more the merrier."

**MAGNUS POV**

That Alexander boy was absolutely delectable. Gorgeous black glossy hair, beautiful creamy skin, tall frame - almost as tall as me! And those God-awful things he called clothes. A garbage bag would look better, but I suppose there is time to learn about the wonders of fashion. I could teach him an awful lot, if he'd just let me.

But my problem lay with Clarissa. Not that I didn't love her to bits, but she would castrate me if I hit on Alexander too much. And not to mention that Alexander may well be Isabelle's brother, if Camille's theories are correct, and although she may not be right, I should still treat him like eye candy and nothing more. But it was a nice little fantasy I had going, and even if nothing could come of it, I did enjoy toying with Alexander a little. His face was absolutely adorable when I was checking him out, as if he didn't know that he was gay! He's probably in denial, but seriously. Men these days...

I pushed all thoughts of Alexander Maciejowski out of my mind and plastered a fake smile as I walked into the classroom of pre-pubescent freshmen doodling on their tables and standing on their chairs and just generally. Causing. Havoc.

_Damn it._

**ALEC POV**

Clary and Jace were a match made in Heaven, I had to admit. They just... Clicked, I guess, and it made me think of that hot Asian drama teacher, Mr Bane. Wait - did I seriously just think that? Crap, crap, crap, what will Jace say? I think I'm gay! Oh crap... But the teacher was certainly desirable, I had to admit. Even if he was flamboyantly gay and a teacher at my school. Yeah, the circumstances weren't exactly ideal.

The rest of the week had passed in a blur of Mr Bane and glitter (I swear that if he ever went missing, all we'd need to do would be to follow the glitter trail) and I could be doing homework or reading quietly in my room. But no, here I was wasting away in a black stretched limo as my friends chattered and laughed. Clary lay sprawled on top of Jace - he must have been loving that - and Ella was leaning on Sebastian's shoulder, much to his obvious delight. Jordan was kind of sulking because Maia had some kind of meeting for the school newspaper and she couldn't come along. He sat alone in the far corner, staring out of the window. Jonathan was sitting near me, rifling through the cooler filled with coke and vodka and Baccardi Breezers. Isabelle had her head in Simon's lap, and Simon looked alarmed, as if he couldn't quite comprehend that this gorgeous girl was sprawled on top of him.

I tried to participate in the easy banter, but I would keep thinking of Magnus and abruptly cutting the conversation short for fear of people working out my thoughts.

After hours of driving, we pulled over at Izzy's beach house in Alicante Cove. The area reminded me of the disaster at Cecily's beach house and I pushed it from my mind.

Our group leapt out of the limo, stretching our legs before dashing down the warm sand in the early evening, the sky streaked with red and gold. Everyone was peeling off their clothes and diving into the inviting emerald water. A cool breeze came off the tall, rugged cliffs and I briefly stared up at where the seagulls were nesting in the grass on the sheer cliff face. After a while, I joined in with the others, really getting into it and thankfully forgetting briefly about Magnus. But everything started going downhill after we swam out a little further, with Clary and Jace about fifty metres ahead of us. For all we knew, they were making out or drowning. Suddenly Ella started waving her arms and screaming, "SHARK! SHARK!" and that's when everything fell apart.

**JACE POV**

Ella frantically waved at Clary and I. She seemed to be yelling 'stop', so Clary and I paused to hear her. The swell lapped at my chest and made my hair curl, and I turned towards Ella, wondering what the fuss was all about. She looked pretty alarmed and I didn't have a clue why! Maybe she had forgotten something, or maybe there was a boat coming around the panoramic headland towards us. I strained my ears to try to hear her.

"Stop?" I called back to her, confused. She looked completely panicked and I had no clue why. I thought she said stop, but who knew what she was saying?

"NO! _SHARK!_" She screamed at the top of her lungs. I finally heard and understood her so I hastily spun around to warn Clary, when something that felt suspiciously like a hand latched onto my ankle and pulled me under the surface of the water.

**Sorry, the cliffy was just so… Tempting! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, though. Thoughts? Comments?**

**And thank you very much to the following:**

**-Guest for reviewing**

**-mortalinstrumentsgurl1 for reviewing**

**-ByTheAngelIsThatWillHerondal e for her awesome review!**

**-Blackbloodvamp for following**

**-Fluffernutter21 for following**

**By the way guys, your reviews make my day. So keep it up and remember to review, follow and/or favourite! Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon. Stay tuned, and check out the links for the school outfits below (also on my profile).**

**Thanks once again,**

**-Physalie00**

**LINKS:**

**CLARY'S SUNDRESS:**

** . /search?hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&biw=320&bih=356&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=floral+sundress&oq=floral+sundress&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3..0j0i24l3.3478.12419.0.13..2883.2-1j3j1j2.7.0...0.0...1ac.1. -gws-serp.7lxiSXUSBGc#i=11**

**CLARY'S BOOTS:**

** . /search?hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&biw=320&bih=416&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=brown+leather+boots+tassels&oq=brown+leather+boots+tassels&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3...49014.55353.0.55..2040.3-3j1j1.5.0...0.0...1ac.1. -gws-serp.7Bjs6j9sD5E#i=6**

**CLARY'S EARRINGS:**

** . /search?hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&biw=320&bih=416&tbm=isch&oq=+brown+feather+earrings&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3..0.62480.86715.0.87..7518.2-1j5j7j4.17.0...0.0...1ac.1. -gws-serp.-452jlsoTDE&q=brown%20feather%20earrings#i=4**

**CLARY'S NECKLACE:**

** . /search?hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&biw=320&bih=416&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=brown+feather+necklace&oq=brown+feather+necklace&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3...4231.9528.0.9..1782.2-2j4.6.0...0.0...1ac.1. -ZqUxyY2k#i=3**


	9. Chapter 8

**Hello.**

**I did try to get this published as soon as possible, but juggling three assignments, swimming and rowing commitments is never easy. School is a PAIN. So yeah. Pretty much all of us know how terrible school is. Seriously, who invented homework? I may feel the need to run them over with a mac truck. Kidding, kidding! But I got moved up to the top squad of my swimming club, so I'm really, really happy! Like, **_**super **_**hyper at the moment. But there is an important Author's Note at the bottom, so PLEASE READ IT! Enjoy chapter 8 of Triton and Atlanta!**

**CLARY POV**

My breath rushed out of me as if I'd been hit. Jace was gone in a flurry of bubbles and one more wide-eyed glance at the starlit sky. And I think I know why he's gone. The dark, almost pulsing blob of malevolence under the cobalt water darted swiftly away, as if daring me to follow. To mundanes, the blob may be easily mistaken as a shark, but any Calypsaï with a sliver of common sense would know to stay away; because the tell-tale murky energy was easily recognisable as the life force of a fairly powerful Eulysae.

I knew that I had to go after my boyfriend, in Calypsaï form. My inadequate, clumsy human limbs would enable the unknown Eulysae to escape within seconds of my pursuit. I hastily glanced over to Izzy and Ella, trying to focus less on the pity and worry in their eyes, visible even from 100m away, and more on the task at hand; saving Jace. I tried to convey my message in a slight tilt of my head in the direction Jace disappeared in.

_I'll be back._

Believe it or not, the whole silent conversation took about five seconds, and I think – at least, I hope – that they understood what I meant. I duck dived into the heavy swell, dark, Eulysae induced storm clouds gathering in the dark sky above me as I took one more furtive glance at the sky as I swam deeper into the ocean, mid-Change.

The Change took over my mind and body in powerful racks of shudders and uncontrollable pins and needles all over my body, concentrated especially on my legs and feet. A feeling of absolute lightness and serenity washed over me as my Royal tail appeared, shimmering in the diluted moonlight, making me totally visible to anyone – or anything – on the shoreline or cliffs. I knew that Ella would have my neck, and I would have a lot of explaining to do to the mundane members of our party. My spines rose along the back of my tail, scales hardening into a defensive barrier as another mythical presence neared me. I sighed a pearly trail of bubbles out of my mouth, focusing on inhaling and exhaling water using my mouth and gills. The feeling of my gills flexing and tickling against my throat is indescribable, and one of the main reasons I _loved _being part fish.

I flicked my tail in impatience and raced off in the direction the Eulysae had disappeared to. Ella followed me, also in Calypsaï form, explaining the mysterious presence I'd sensed before, and I smiled despite the daunting situation Jace's life may be in. But – Jace must be drowning! Unless he's Calypsaï, he'll be dead in minutes! I piled on a burst of speed until my destination was in my sight.

The murky blob swam erratically before me, yanking mercilessly on the now unconscious Jace's arm. Jace, being deadweight, clearly slowed the Eulysae down, and the onyx blob was leaking wisps of black smoke – Eulysae blood – so Jace had clearly done some damage while conscious. I felt a swell of pride, pushing it back down as I stealthily snuck closer and closer to the pair.

I was now close enough to smell the Eulysae. Their magic takes on strange forms during sunlight, such as unexplained shadows and strange storm cloud formations, but I had never been close enough to a Eulysae to _feel _the blood. Black smoke curled around my body, latching in my hair and wrapping around my tail spines before spinning off into oblivion. Ella shuddered next to me in disgust, and I understood what she meant – I had just touched Eulysae blood.

I could also see Jace very well. His gold curls gently undulated around is head in an unlikely halo. A trickle of bubbles curled around his strong jaw line and over his cheekbones, getting lost in his hair and floating to the moonlit surface. Beams of diluted moonlight fell across his face, creating strange patterns and effects with his angular bone structure. Dark, almost indiscernible gashes fluttered open and closed on the sides of his neck; the source of his bubbles.

_Dark gashes opening and closing on his neck._

With a start, I registered the fact that Jace had gills. I reached out to him, but a deadly whirlpool of murky, magical, watery sludge picked Ella and I up and flung us over the grainy sand and slimy kelp before dumping us into the calm waves on the shoreline of Alicante Cove.

**IZZY POV**

I was worried sick about Jace and Clary. I was, however, a little insulted as Ella merrily pranced off with Clary to rescue Jace, subsequently leaving me behind to babysit the mundanes. Ugh. However, the looks of complete awe on their faces at Clary and Ella going to the rescue made the experience completely worth it. Simon's geeky glasses hung askew on his slightly hooked nose, his delicate jaw hanging slack and coffee-brown eyes locked onto the place that Clary's lustrous tail had been moments before. Sebastian's eyes were bugging out of his head, probably at the realisation that his crush may not be one hundred per cent human. Jordan was staring at the water, blinking and rubbing his eyes, clearly trying to convince himself that he'd imagined it all. Alec was gaping at the water, before turning to me and fixating on my legs as if I would randomly sprout a tail. But… As entertaining the atmosphere was, something that I'd seen – or maybe something that I hadn't seen and should have been there – was off. And I wanted to find out what exactly.

But I pushed the doubt out of my mind and tried to find something – _anything _– else to focus on, my eyes locking onto Maia. She seemed the least affected by the sudden transformation out of all of us, not including me, of course. She squinted at the ocean before spinning away from Jordan to face me.

"Did I just see Clary with a fish tail?" Blunt as usual, but I appreciated the normality because at the moment, nothing else was normal and it was comforting to find something that was. I cringed internally and smiled sheepishly, shrugging as if to say, _What can you do? _I mentally cursed Clary's indiscretion and decided to get the explanation over with – about our DNA differences, abilities, et cetera as Simon's expression went from funny to funnier – his eyes going from saucers to dinner plate sized. I ended the overdue recount as quickly as I could, bracing myself for the onslaught of questions that came next. I did my best to answer them, my mind wandering elsewhere as I realised what had been bothering me before – what was 'off'.

Sebastian didn't have grey eyes.

And Jonathan was nowhere to be found.

**JONATHAN POV**

It had been quite easy to create the Shadowhunter, really.

All that was needed was a floor length mirror, self-confidence (I'm not exactly lacking), Salt of Calypso and an energy source. Namely, that idiot Sebastian fucking Verlac. Ugh. Hate that dude. I'd rather just kill him and get it over with. One down, five to go in my mind.

But I couldn't exactly go against Cecily Verlac's direct orders, could I? Not only does she pay well, she may or may not be related to that asshole so killing him would probably be a big no-no. But she had said that these Calypsaï were intelligent and crafty, and they'd proven her wrong so far. I had almost laughed at how easily detected those little fishies were. They didn't blend in at all – far too attractive. Three model-like girls just happen to have the most amazing grades and achievements in the sporting world? Ha. Please, they're too good to be true.

Anyway, once the Shadowhunter, posing as myself (and I must say, I _am _rather stunning) was formed, I cast a brief, practically fool proof glamour over my eyes to make them as blue as Sebastian's. Like coloured contacts, just much cheaper and less time consuming. And I also cast a similar glamour over my hair so that it was jet black rather than bleach blonde. After everyone was just concerned with Jace, I had switched the identity of the Shadowhunter to Sebastian's so to not cause unwarranted suspicion.

But the main reason that glamours are a pain to use is that they wear off. So I could look like myself again and not even realise it until it was too late. Not to mention how fucking _frustrating _Shadowhunters are to control. They want a hamburger, they _get _a hamburger, whether you tell them to or not. And they're not exactly the brightest of all sparks. I had one who chased his shadow.

And you might ask, how did he chase his shadow? Well, he did it quite literally. A Shadowhunter is an image that looks and sounds real, but occasionally their shadows move independently. So my Shadowhunter was actually chasing his shadow across Times Square. He got hit by a bus and the bus was very confused as to where the body went and why there was a permanent black oil type stain on the front of the bus, covering one of the headlights.

Another big problem with Shadowhunters is the fact that they don't leave footprints on any surface that will give. So they don't work that well on beaches or sandpits, mud, candy floss. Hopefully they would never need to cross candy floss though. Moving on… They also don't disturb bodies of water, so no ripples through puddles and no effect if they're wading through water. Very stealthy, but rather strange if you're with company. They also only speak the first language they hear, and in Japan I was doing some undercover work in the hidden caves of Mount Fuji, and suddenly I have my Shadowhunter babbling in Japanese behind me (a language that I do not speak apart from konichiwa, meaning 'good afternoon') because we passed some Japanese tourists on the way in.

The first Shadowhunter was created by Ulysses and was named 'Shadow Hunter' because much like my Shadowhunter, it lost its shadow, and legend has it that if you stand at a certain point in the Bermuda Triangle at dusk and look at the horizon, you can still see Ulysses' Shadow Hunter chasing its shadow.

But, my mission was nearly completed. I had sent a strong wind generated current under the surface of the water to where my colleague lay in wait with that Jace boy. She deflected the current (clever girl) and added some of her power to it before directing it towards those pesky Calypsaï ladies. Jace was gone, in Cecily's clutches, and the mundanes were pretty much unprotected unless my colleague was an idiot and sent them back into shore. I really hope that she didn't. But it was time to go back to the tide pool to complete my mission once and for all.

Score one for J-dawg.

**JACE POV**

I groaned, blinking the salt out of my stinging eyes, wincing slightly as the salty water ran down from my hairline into the cut just above my eyebrow that I'd gotten from fighting the shark-like creature – I'm pretty sure that it wasn't any ordinary shark. Dry, rough sand grated against the skin of my thighs and calves and dug into my wrists, bound in some incredibly strong glass contraption binding my hands above my head. I tried to yank at the clear glass manacles, hoping that they wouldn't cut me too badly if they _did _break, but as long as I could get out of here then I wouldn't complain. At least, not too much.

I took the opportunity to look around my 'jail'. It was a pretty, compact cavern that stank of salt and warm seaweed (the warmer the seaweed, the more potent the stench). There was obviously water nearby, because I could hear it crashing against the outer wall of the cave and sloshing around on the far side of the room. Ripples of light played across the ceiling, pretty patterns made by daylight reflecting off the water. The rock of the wall sparkled, as if they'd been recently wet, and small, shiny crystals that were either clear or blue littered the walls of the cave. Another wave of despair washed over me and I grunted as I pulled at the glass manacles even harder that before.

"I wouldn't bother, Herondale. Those chains are _adamas _nailed directly into the limestone and granite walls. They're not coming loose anytime soon, because this area used to be volcanic. After the original _adamas_ pins and chains were nailed into the wall, molten granite encased the chains completely into the walls. Try all you might, and I wish you luck to break them." Came the taunting and sarcastically pitiful voice behind me. His voice was almost obnoxiously loud, hurting my ears and bouncing of the walls of the room intimidatingly. But what really worried me was that I recognised that voice. I knew that voice very well, and out of all of my friends, I thought that he would stick with me for most of my life. I breath came quicker as my blonde haired friend stepped into my line of sight and bent down, grinning and waving at me, his expression full of condescension. What was really strange was that there was an almost inky darkness in his hair, leaking out, slipping down his body and disappearing in tiny wisps of smoke on his hands, throat and bare feet. He reminded me of Medusa, the curling snake-like tendrils rolling off his hair and down his body. His eyes seemed semi-blue, but as I watched, more and more grey flowed into them from an invisible source until I thought I had imagined the blue in the first place. He fake pouted at my rubbed raw wrists from that damn _adamas_, the traitor that he really is shining through that fake mask he had shown to me.

"Jonathan," I said cheerily, really laying it on thick. "Come to save me, I suppose?" Jonathan blinked at me in shock, then roared with laughter.

"You-You… Ha! You're so fucking _funny!_" He grinned and spread his arms wide. "Welcome to your final resting place, Jace. Unless you can hold your breath for-" He checked his watch, "-an hour and fifty-six minutes total." I was confused. Why the specific timing? _Final resting place? _Ooh, scary!

"And to answer your question, no. And, by the way, have you noticed your jail mate yet?" Jonathan stepped about a metre to his left, revealing a particularly dank, dark corner of the room that my eyes and briefly skimmed over and then forgotten about when I was looking around the cavern before. Suddenly, what I had thought was a particularly dark shadow moved and groaned, a beam of light from the crack in the ceiling highlighting his ebony black hair, ivory skin tones, closed blue eyes and the stark red blood against his alabaster skin slowly trickling down his forehead, rolling around his brow bone and dripping off his jaw and into the growing puddle of blood that he was sitting in. The lone figure raised his head, and Sebastian Verlac tried to smile weakly but ended up grimacing, the motion of his face causing even more blood to run down his paler than normal face and for him to wince, thus increasing the blood flow even more. I croaked out his name, the syllables getting caught in my throat and ending up just as a wheezed breath. Her

Jonathan stepped back in front of Sebastian, grinning down at me like the cat that got the cream. "I'll be taking your dear friend with me when I leave. Don't bother asking for his help – he's quite literally drained of energy. He was quite useful in that respect – he should be proud. But you, however… You will be staying here for the night. If you're lucky, you might get one last glance at the outside world tonight.

"Jace, this is what Cecily and I call a tide pool." He gestured around himself grandly. _Cecily? How is she involved? Shouldn't she be helping her brother? _As these thoughts ran through my mind, I wracked my brains of all the information I had on 'tide pools', which amounted to a grand total of... Nothing. But Jonathan continued his speech, oblivious to my thoughts.

"At 11:45am today, the tide pool with begin to fill up with sea water." Realisation turned into panic as I realised what Jonathan meant by 'tide pool'. "By 3pm this afternoon, the water will be up to approximately your waist. And at exactly 5:56 this evening, the water level will reach the top of cavern." Jonathan paused briefly, smirking at me. "Your _adamas _manacles won't stretch that far." _So I'll die before that, _I thought. Jonathan grinned. "Moving back in time a touch. At around 5:17 tonight, the water will have reached your jaw, even at the maximum stretch that the manacles can be at. Five minutes after that, you'll die of lack of oxygen and water inhalation. Your lungs are allergic to water, so it'll only take a teaspoon's worth of liquid for you to die, Jace." Jonathan bowed extravagantly before heading back to an unconscious Sebastian and hauling him to where I had heard water sloshing from before. There was a small speed boat moored there that I hadn't noticed before. I frowned, noticing at last the daylight streaming in through the gap and shining into my eyes. Judging by the position of the sun, it must have been about 9am, so I'd been asleep – or unconscious – for quite a while. Once in the boat Jonathan stretched his arms above his head and smiled happily. He spun back around to face me one more time, sitting down and waving merrily. He grinned one more time, before backing out of the cavern. His last words rang through my head repeatedly and filled me with despair.

"Have a nice day, Jace."

**CLARY POV**

I slumped onto the damp sand, basking in the morning rays of sunlight. My scarlet curtain of hair probably had all kinds of bits and pieces in it, varying from grains of sand to kelp to salt crystals, but I didn't give a shit. I was actually rather depressed at the moment, because after that Eulysae whirlpool thingy, Ella and I spent the rest of the night and half of this morning scouring the Idris coastline for any sign of Jace. We hadn't found anything, and no matter what we tried, we couldn't get back to the place that the whirlpool had hit us from. The black sludge had stuck to my hair and stained my bikini, so I was mad to say the least, but thankfully this Eulysae didn't have acidic magic so my clothing was still fairly intact (believe me, been there, done that). My bikini bottoms had miraculously gotten hooked on one of my tail spines, so I was safe to wander around public beaches without scarring any young children for life.

Ella flopped beside me, obviously spent from the time we spent looking for Jace. It was like he'd disappeared off the face of the planet, but then again, I'd never been patient enough to really _thoroughly _look for something – or someone. I regret that now. But I was seriously close to giving up now. I wanted to find Jace, and I was worried if we didn't find him pretty soon, it would be too late. I might already be too late, but I really did not want to think about that right now.

"Ella?"

"Mm." I sat up straight and turned to face her. Her blonde hair was spread out around her, and she looked peaceful and serene as she clearly tried to catch up on some lost sleep. I, however, was not having any of that. I shook her shoulder and snapped my fingers in front of her face, needing her to pay attention to what I had to say.

"Do you reckon Magnus will be able to help?" Magnus had always had a bit of a knack for tracking missing people down. Ella's eyes flashed open and she sat up, scrabbling around before getting unsteadily to her feet. She looked down at me, her eyes wide. I wondered if she was mad at me, but I didn't think she would be… What did I say?

"_Why didn't you mention that before?!_" She hissed at me. I held up my hands, leaning back slightly in defence. Ella could be really scary sometimes!

"I forgot! I'm sorry—" I began. She just rolled her eyes and smiled for the first time in hours. But I _was _sorry. I was sorry that I hadn't been looking out for Jace. I was sorry that I hadn't sensed the Eulysae nearby. I was sorry that Jace was gone.

But there wasn't anything I could do. I could just hope for the best and get Magnus to track Jace down when we return. A little bloom of hope flowered in my chest at the thought of seeing Jace again. But I felt like I'd been really irresponsible. I felt like I had been babysitting and I had lost the child somewhere in the super market. But the reality was just so much worse.

"It's going to be okay, Clary. We'll find him. But we need to meet up with Iz, remember?" I nodded slowly, following her along trail behind the Idris public beach until we reached the edge of the secluded Alicante Cove. I looked down at the aggressive waves crashing on the faraway rocks, the loud seagulls buzzing around the tall cliffs opposite us. I saw our friends on the beach, waiting for us, asleep. I promised myself that we would find Jace after all, and all will be well. I want to find out if Jace having gills was some crazy hallucination, or if it was true. I wanted to kill whoever stole him from me. But above all, I knew that everything would turn out okay eventually.

I hope.

**How did you like the chapter? Thoughts? Suspicions on who is Jonathan's colleague? Yeah? No?**

**But the important AN that I mentioned at the top is this – as soon as T&A is complete, I have an idea for another story. It's another Clace fic, and it is inspired (though not stolen from) Lalina's 'Let's Get Physical', a Twilight fic. Here is the summary of my story which is NOT identical to hers!**

_**When Clarissa Fairchild, anorexic and bulimic, has a frightening wake-up call, she decides that her health does matter. With the help of her best friend, a goal of gaining 50lbs and a reward of one hot night with her personal trainer, Clarissa is determined to get back on track for good.**_

**Is it worth a shot?**

**Anyway, thank you very much to the following people:**

**-Destiny. Angel07 for reviewing**

**-mortalinstrumentsgurl1 for reviewing all of the chapters so far!**

**-ByTheAngelIsThatWill Herondale for her once again awesome review!**

**-Hellgoddessyyh for following**

**-xmidnight. musex for following**

**-hungrycaterpillars for following**

**So once again, thank you all very much for reviewing and following, and don't forget to review this chapter, follow or favourite! (Preferably all ;D).**

**-Physalie00**


	10. Chapter 9

**No, you're not deluding yourself, this IS a chapter.**

**I'm so, so sorry for the enormous wait! It has been a ridiculous amount of time, and you have my sincerest apologies for that. It was nearly two months! Oops…**

**But anyway, here is the promised chapter. I hope you enjoy it, and see you at the bottom…**

**JACE POV – 7 HOURS EARLIER**

It was cold. My lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. I wouldn't last much longer. The cold water surrounding my body seemed to seep through my pores and right into my bones, as light rapidly bled from the water around and above me, threatening to leave me blind in the total darkness. And for a moment, for _just a moment,_ my mind flew to Clary; her beautiful fiery hair, glowing porcelain skin, emerald eyes. I needed her with me, right here, right now. I had never told her how much I cared about her. Never told her about the future we could have. I need- I need...

...A way...

...To say...

...Goodbye.

**CLARY POV – PRESENT TIME**

Dark water sloshed onto the shoreline, reflecting the pale moonlight in the wet sand. A cool ocean breeze blew in, the perfect cloudless sky shimmering with stars. Perfection was this, really; Mother Nature had done her job well. I suppose she didn't - and couldn't - care that I had just lost the boy I had come to care for deeply. The stars were ever so clear - Cassiopeia, cygnet, Sirius - their beauty not covered by the smog of the city. Yes. Mother Nature had done well. It was the first time I'd ever seen the sky clearly. In New York, a combination of pollution and the bright neon and fluorescent street lamps outshone the sky, and only the brightest stars showed, if any. I had never realised the intricacy of the night sky before now.

It was ironic, really. I lost one beauty - Jace - only to find another that had been there throughout. How could this possibly be fair? Flashes and glimpses of Jace in a thousand different lights, angles and perspectives flitted through my mind, reminding of what I had had and what I had lost. I regretted not telling Jace that I cared for him; deeply. Maybe not to the point of love, but close, I think. But …

…. Would I ever see him again?

Jace could be dead now, and I was doing nothing to help. Self-pity and pondering my life's dilemmas was not going to help with Jace's predicament. I didn't know where he was or how to look; or even where to start. The ocean was vast, and with a powerful and speedy boat or the frightening strength of a Calypsaï or Eulysae tail, his kidnappers could be halfway across the planet already. That opened hundreds of destination options, not including the whole East coast of America. Jace may have been drowned – but that reminded me. I had seen gills on Jace's throat.

That either meant that Jace was at least part Calypsaï, or that I had been in such a state of shock and so grief-stricken that my imagination had run wild or I had been hallucinating. The latter was probably more likely, given the mental state I was currently in.

The ghostly figure of the Eulysae that stole him ran through my mind, and the underlying message left me suspicious, but with a possible lead. Who would want to take Jace? Why? And what was that powerful whirlpool that struck at the point that Jace needed me the most?

I slumped onto the damp sand under the pressure of my overwhelming thoughts, the cool grains a natural exfoliant every time I moved, successfully distracting me from the train of thought that was sure to give me a nervous breakdown.

Looking out to the ocean, every riptide was suddenly startlingly obvious, a stark contrast to the gentle waves breaking on the shoreline and the lulling undulation of the the cobalt water further out into the ocean. The water's surface was completely unbroken, free of ripples. And suddenly, memories flooded my mind, an unstoppable force that I had no choice but to allow.

_Delicate, silvery bubbles floated to the surface, unbroken waves rolling above that moved my fiery hair gently, the scarlet tendrils swaying from side to side. I had once asked Camille if my hair would ever be put out by the ocean, seeing as fire is, but she had only laughed in response and smiled endearingly._

_The dim silhouette of Isabelle, Ella, Magnus, Raphael and Helen above me blocked the shafts of moonlight as they broke through the smooth surface of the water, a little diluted, but still enough to shine geometric patterns onto our skin and tails and light up the edges of the dark chasm far below us that we had just swum through to escape the Eulysae trackers from pursuing us._

_The trackers had been following us for days. Raphael knew these chasms and labyrinths like the back of his hand, having grown up here and frolicked in the tangled kelp whenever he could as a child, but even he couldn't lose these trackers. We had traveled through a web of interlocking reefs and kelp forests, done loops through chasms and had hidden in the huge pore-like caverns of the underwater sandstone cliffs on either side of the chasms. But nothing had taken the Eulysae off of our tails, no pun intended._

_After a few hours of traveling since leaving the Triton palace, Camille had paused and held very still. Her eyes had flashed open with a panic on her usually collected face, and she had sped off into the deep dragging Izzy, Ella and I with her. The lingering sense of being followed had continued throughout the trip, tell-tale wisps of smoke curling around rocks and sea plants behind us, alerting us to the Eulysae's presence. Camille had guessed that there were two or three, judging from the dark energy and sheer power radiating from behind us._

_Magnus had been ordered to wait at this point in the Bermuda Triangle for a little while until a small sailboat passed overhead with the name _The Brocelind _painted below it. We had been here for a little while now, and both Camille and Helen were getting extremely twitchy. _

_The sound of a motorboat penetrated the cloak of tension surrounding us. Sound through water carries at approximately four times the speed as it does through air, meaning that the boat was around a kilometre away. That meant less than a minute before it reached us, judging purely by the slow crescendo of its engine and propeller. _

_But it may be too late._

_Dark blobs of magic accumulate before us, conjugating into two large masses._

_Eulysae._

_The propeller of the boat gets ever louder, harmonising with the Eulysae's sinister laughter as they reach for our messenger and my nanny, Tessriel. Their clawed, black nails latch onto her pail skin as her real tail swishes desperately in an attempt to get away. But before any member of our party can even move in an effort to help her, the second Eulysae pushes his outstretched hand into her back._

_And with a horrendous ripping sound and a bone-chilling scream from Tessriel, his black talons appear throughout her chest. Tessriel's blood pollutes the water and colours the night red, and the lustrous, white sailboat appears above us in the murk._

"_Tessie! Tessa!" I screeched, clawing at Magnus' arm in a desperate attempt to free myself of his strong grip and to reach Tessriel. He murmurs in my ear, begging me to be quiet and to willingly board the vessel. I shake my head maniacally, shrieking for Tessa with thick, salty tears running down my face and swiftly dissolving into the cool ocean water. I finally stop squirming as a feeling of numbness overcomes me, my heart leaden and weighed down in my chest. I stare at Tessriel's glassy, unseeing eyes for a wistful moment before turning my attention to our method of our escape – the boat above us._

The Brocelind_, it reads on the hull. Magnus grips Isabelle and I before launching us out of the water and onto the deck, sopping wet and dripping over the clean cedar. He swiftly joins us, followed by Camille, Raphael and Helen. The boat speeds away seemingly of its own accord, leaving behind a growing patch of scarlet staining the ocean and a group of bloodthirsty Eulysae and straying sharks as they tear apart whatever was left of Tessriel. I could only hope that she was already dead and was thus spared the pain of a gory death._

_I told myself that I was not going to cry at the death of my favourite nanny. The lady who had chased me around the palace to try to get me still enough for her to braid my hair, and lightly scolded Ella and I for teasing the princes when we were two. The lady who had an easy smile for when I tugged at her skirt, wanting attention, and who let my bury my face in her shoulder when my brother disappeared._

_But at that point, I didn't have much control over my body as my chest wracked with sobs and my face was as wet as it was in the ocean below me, the boat speeding away from my only home and into the land of the unknown._

My face was still wet as I withdrew from my memories at last. I had loved Tessriel dearly, and every time I remember the circumstances of her death I promise myself that I will avenge her someday. I swear on Calypso that I will. _Ave atque vale, Tessriel. Ave atque vale._

**ELLA POV**

The drive back to New York was tense and quiet, grief and melancholy energy crackling and hanging over everyone's heads. The tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Sebastian and Jonathan were nowhere to be found. I was worried about Sebastian, but at the moment I was focusing on keeping Clary sane. Isabelle was driving along the near empty highways leading to New York at 6:00am while Maia and Jordan were quietly snuggling and comforting each other in the back of the car. I sidled a little closer to Clary in my seat, looking at her briefly before flicking my eyes forwards once again.

"Clary..." I began. She sniffled, rubbing at her still-red eyes. I sighed, closing my eyes for a second. When Clary had returned to our little villa, she had been covered in sand from head to toe, her dress completely soaked and hanging limp from her shoulders. I remembered being frustrated at her and about to snap about how she was dripping water all over the kitchen floors, when I saw her puffy red eyes and grimace on her face, her body trembling with grief and the cold, and practically shoved her in the shower.

That was four hours ago. She had been snuffling to herself the whole drive, and I suspect that she blamed herself for Jace's disappearance. She must think that since she was the closest to Jace at the time of strike, she was personally responsible for his disappearance and that she should have done more to assist him.

I personally blamed myself. If I'd only warned them earlier, if I had Changed immediately rather than worrying about alerting Jace of our true nature, then maybe he would still be with us. But I had to stay strong for Clary at least, even though I certainly wasn't feeling particularly strong at the moment. I just hoped that by now, for Jace it wasn't too late.

**ISABELLE POV**

It's school again today. Ella and I had spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday scouring the Internet and Calypsaï frequently visited places looking for leads on the whereabouts of Jace. We didn't dare try a Eulysae hideouts for fear of recognition, as Cecily seemed to be influential in the hierarchy of the Eulysae. Clary spent the majority of the weekend holed up in her room, completely distraught. But at last, Monday was finally here.

We walked into school in our usual clothing, trying to behave normally. Students noticed Jace, Sebastian and Jonathan's absences immediately, and despite the odd biting remark from Aline and the rest of her awful clique, everything was unusually quiet.

Kaelie was also absent.

Crazy rumours flew around school about how Jace and Kaelie had secretly run away together, undoubtedly begun by the likes of Aline Penhallow. As if. But it was very suspicious; Kaelie is missing at the same time as the others? What were the chances?

School passed quickly and pretty much uneventfully, and it was Tuesday. Another boring day full of classes and homework and greasy cafeteria food and chipped wallpaper that suddenly seemed ever so fascinating.

And then Wednesday.

The principal was getting worried about the absences of four students at the same time. Raphael ended up organising a meeting between him, Cam, Magz, Hels and Mr Aldertree to clear up the mess. The game plan was to convince the teachers that they were just sick and there was a coincidence linking their absences and nothing more. That was his job - make sure that the secret magical beings of this realm stay exactly that - secret.

Mythology was not an uncommon excuse for circumstances such as these. Accidents and paranoia also 'explained' disappearances and such. Frequently Camille would use a recent terrorist attack or threat to pass off any suspicion as an overworking mind. The end result was always the same - the Calypsaï and Eulysae worlds were never discovered by mundanes.

I only hope that it isn't too late, and that if the police aren't already involved then they never will be.

**CAMILLE POV**

"Magnus!"

Magnus' spiky hair miraculously stayed completely still and his head whipped around towards the sound of my voice. I ran towards him as fast as I could in the most formal red high heels that I could find. A black knee-length pencil skirt and a crisp white blouse tucked into that accompanied by a ruby necklace hanging around my throat was what I deemed presentable for meeting the Principal of Clary, Isabelle and Ella's school along with the Verlac, Graymark and Morgenstern families.

Magnus linked his arm through mine without words and without hesitation as we walked into the office, Helen and Raphael just behind us. Seated behind the bulky rosewood desk was a bulky man with large, thick glasses, a suit that looked very uncomfortable and balding grey hair.

In front of him sat a severe-looking lady with steely hair, and steely gaze and icy eyes. She wore a slate grey power suit and sat with perfect posture, her back rod-straight. Next to her was a young woman who looked to be in her twenties with midnight, inky hair and startling blue eyes. She wore a black sleeveless dress that came to a little above her knees.

Four chairs to their right were vacant, and we sat immediately.

"Thank you for attending." The principal began. I leant back in my chair, expecting a lengthy lecture and/or debate about the absent teenagers.

"I have called you here on the matter of your childr- relatives." He hastily corrected at the young woman's menacing stare. "Ms. Verlac, Mrs. Graymark, Ms. Belcourt - why have your... Relatives... Been absent from school for the past three days?"

The young woman with black hair spoke up. "Sebastian is none of my concern. He is legally an adult and lives independently of me-"

"Please excuse me, Ms. Verlac. But St. Xavier's understood that Sebastian was under your care. Therefore you must care for him." The Principal interrupted.

"Sebastian has been ill recently. He is taking a little recuperation time in preparation for the upcoming exams." Ms. Verlac finally allowed. She didn't look happy about it, nor did she look truthful about it. She flicked her ebony hair over shoulder and folded her arms over her chest.

"I understand, however he will require a doctor's note in the future. And you, Ms. Graymark?" The principal turned his gaze towards the elder lady next to Ms. Verlac.

"Thank you, sir. Jace-" Magnus gripped my hand infinitesimally tighter, "-has been suffering from Glandular Fever recently. Surely you can understand how common this disease can be through teenagers and has also been dubbed 'the kissing disease'." Ms. Graymark threw a pointed glare in my direction at the mention of 'the kissing disease'. I, however, was partly shocked, partly relieved - Jace had been captured! Did Ms. Graymark know more than she let on or did she want the matter of her missing foster son out in the open?

"Thank you Amatis. And you, Ms. Belcourt, Ms. Blackthorn, Mr. Bane and Mr. Santiago - I called you here because your adopted children were the last seen with these boys. I see now that an explanation is unnecessary, but thank you for attending this meeting regardless. Now, I have some emails to send - you are welcome to leave." And with that, the principal turned to his computer and ignored the parents - and relatives - that he had previously seeked an audience with.

**=T&A=**

I didn't trust Cecily Verlac.

I had listened when the girls had told me about her race. But I hadn't really believed it or taken it for what it was - they were teenage girls, and their powers weren't fully developed yet. It was practically expected for them to incorrectly read another species.

I hadn't expected them to be right.

But when I had shaken Cecily Verlac's hand, I knew that everything that Isabelle had said was true. A dark spark leapt through my nerves, and judging by Cecily's flinch, she had gotten a little whiplash from me. I wasn't sure about Amatis but I would wager a guess that the two of them are working together.

I tried to shake of the undeniable sense of foreboding as I walked across the nearly empty parking lot and climbed into my car, but didn't succeed. What if Cecily and Amatis are responsible for Jace's disappearance? That would explain why Amatis automatically deflected any and all questions about the whereabouts of her foster son whenever asked about it. I had no clue where Sebastian was, but I had a feeling that he was inexplicably involved in this mess, deliberately or not. And I had a terrible feeling that not everyone was going to come out of this affair alive.

I watched as Cecily practically strutted across the lot, perusing her handbag for something while she walked in her impossibly high death traps. She found what she had been looking for - a cell phone - and quickly dialled a number before quickly speaking into it. I'm lucky I learnt to lip read, and scrutinised Cecily under the presence of checking my reflection in the car mirror.

_Is he dead yet? ...no, no, I don't care... Why not? The tide pool must be full by now ... He would be useful bait, I do agree... Meet me back at-what? When?!... Sebastian hasn't done anything like that…_

I lost track of the conversation as Cecily climbed into her car with tinted windows and closed the sleek door behind her gently, but I had heard enough of the conversation to make assumptions. Was 'he' Jace? It seemed more than likely, and from what I could garner from the one-sided conversation, he was still alive, whoever it was. However, Cecily seemed to plan to use him as bait. I am only disappointed that I didn't hear where they would meet. That could have proved as extremely valuable information, but I suppose we would survive without it.

The sparkly form of Magnus approached the car, followed by Raphael and Helen. I followed Magnus' gaze towards Cecily's car, where the steely Amatis Graymark was striding towards without hesitation. A smoked-glass door swung open with an unseen force, and Mrs Graymark climbed into the car. Five seconds later, the car was speeding off into the distance with the cacophony of screeching tyres and a powerful engine. And for now, hopefully we had seen the last of Cecily Verlac and Amatis Graymark. Hopefully.

Magnus froze for a minute, his gaze caught by something else. He flushed slightly, and turned back to the car, but I had already seen who he'd been looking at; a boy with inky black hair and ocean blue eyes. I sighed and let my head thump back against the headrest of the shotgun seat.

_What are you getting yourself into, Magnus?_

**ALEC POV**

What was Mr. Bane doing? We had a terrible substitute for drama today who decided that I enjoyed Aline's company and stuck me in a pair with her, and then told me I had beautiful brown eyes.

Brown?

I knew that if Jace were here, he would have been snickering and then would have muttered a derogatory or sarcastic comment and/or an immature joke, subsequently landing us both in the Principal's office for after school detention. Loads of fun. That's sarcasm, there.

But God, I missed him.

What would Magnus say? Would he ask after Jace? Try to help look? Not that that would do an awful lot of good, unless he had some mythical powers that he had forgotten to mention previously. Ha. Although Magnus had some clear powers over glitter and fashion, neither would help unless he managed to follow a magical path of glitter to Jace.

Okay, so maybe not. But when I'm stressed my mind concocts... Strange things.

I continued to look out of the frosty window, bored out of my mind. I entertained myself by looking at the cars parked in the lot. A few drew my gaze especially; a flashy Lamborghini that I believed belonged to Isabelle, a rusty olive green '89 Mustang, a black and red shiny Harley Davidson, a beat-up red Chevy, an onyx black Porsche with sleek, tinted windows, and a white powerful-looking Ferrari. The number plate of the Ferrari was covered by spider web lines of crystalline frost fanning out along the window, obscuring my view.

As I watched, the door to reception opened and a slender, pale woman with cold, cobalt eyes and a shock of inky black hair, much like Isabelle's, swept over her shoulder in a neat business hair-do. The lady held open the door for a slim, pale, curvy blonde woman with startling, almost unnaturally green eyes stark against her pale hair and skin. They spoke briefly, but the hostility between them was evident almost immediately. They headed to separate cars, and the black-haired woman strode towards the onyx Porsche that I had noticed before, clutching a cell phone in her right hand and pressing it to her ear. I quickly lost interest.

After a brief interval, the door swung open once again, revealing four more adults in formal business wear; a middle-aged woman with steely hair and steelier hair - Amatis! But what on earth was she doing here? - followed by a couple, the male with curly brown hair and Hispanic-looking features and the female with light blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

But it was the fourth person who really caught my attention - Magnus. He wore a black suit and for once, his hair was completely absent of glitter and framed his face in sleek waves. His cheeks were flushed from the cold, and mine were too at the realisation of just how tight his pants were. Magnus continued gliding towards the first blonde woman, but paused briefly, and slowly turned in my direction as if he had felt my eyes on him. He looked straight at me for the smallest of moments, and I swore that I blushed even harder. Magnus smirked at me and gave a small, exaggerated salute vaguely in my direction before turning and waving to me from behind his back, then disappearing into the car next to him and out of my sight. I glanced down at the table, before peeking up and looking around the classroom to see if anyone had noticed, before seeing a pair of almond shaped eyes flicker away from my and fixate on the teacher at the front of the room. That was when I realised that I was going to have to be careful around Magnus – because someone was already on my trail.

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**-Physalie00**


	11. Chapter 10

**Let me tell you, I feel **_**so **_**terrible for promising an update after two weeks, when it's been more like… Two months. I hope this chapter makes up for the wait! It is a little bit of a filler chapter, but it needed to happen in order for the next one to make sense. Sorry for all the POV changes!**

**Enjoy! More at the bottom!**

**Chapter 10**

**SEBASTIAN POV – Tuesday Morning**

I woke up to cold water lapping at my body. My clothes weren't dry anywhere at all, and sand rubbed between my fingers and toes and was matted into my hair. I had no idea how long I'd been here, but I felt extremely well rested. I slowly peeled my eyes open, blinking rapidly to attempt to adjust to the low light, and took in the circular, unusual, almost crystalline room.

_What is this place?_

A wide cavern stretched before me, filled up to my knees is crystal clear salt water. Refracted light rippled across the ceiling, and tiny fragments of rocks glittered in the dying sunlight. Semi-submerged manacles dangled from the huge walls, rusted on some parts but evidently strong. It resembled a really nice prison, or a really nice torture chamber. Or a really nice interrogation room. But I really couldn't see why on Earth Cecily would need any of those resources.

Why would Cecily go here? What was I thinking when I decided to follow her? There was nothing here! True, if it were mined then she would make millions, but as far as I know, manacles aren't necessary for mining in this day and age. I quickly discovered that my manacles came loose very quickly once you stood up and unhooked the chains. I then stood and moved into the blue salt water, perusing the room and cavern floor for any sign of the exit, hidden or otherwise.

I waded further into the numbing water, my blue converses soaked through and my pants drenched up to my knees. Soft sand and shingle crunched beneath my feet, and shell remains was caught in the laces of my shoes. The steady rhythm of drips permeated the thick silence and bathed the cavern in mystery.

The floor dropped suddenly into a deep trench, extending along the whole room. The water level now came up to my lower ribs, and the water was boreal. If I stayed in this secluded cave where the sun didn't have an opportunity to heat the water, I was at risk of getting hypothermia. I was already wracked with shivers, so I hoped that I would find the exit soon. I could feel the convection of the water moving the very bottom of my pant leg gently against my ankle. I waded on, and trod on something jutting out of the dimly lit cavern bottom, and an explosion of bubbles rose to my left.

I froze, looking into the water and thrusting my hand in that direction, coming into contact with chains. I tried tugging on them but they were weighted down with something I couldn't see. As I had discovered with my manacles, the chain was in a secure hook that attached above the actual rigger in the wall, so that I'd you tried to yank at the chains from below, nothing would happen, but as soon as you stood up you could unhook the chains with ease. This wouldn't work so well if your feet were chained as well, however.

I unhooked the chains and pulled at the weight below. I have no clue what it is, but it weighs a ton! Layers of interlocking chains were revealed from the water, and the bubbles increased the closer the heavy object got to me. The blurred water stopped me from being able to see what the object was. But soon enough, cold, tanned hands are grabbing at my arms and the next thing I know, my best friend is squeezing me to death.

**JONATHAN POV**

Damn boys. Damn blonde, egoistical, supernatural boys— I jumped as my phone rang and vibrated in my pocket, blaring _Sexy and I know It. _What can I say? I fumbled and nearly dropped the phone, snapping it open and pressing it to my ear,

"Hello?"

"_Is he dead yet?" _Trust Cecily to cut straight to the point. I suppose it works if there are Calypsaï or some other dim-witted life form nearby. I could hear soft winds and the crunch of asphalt and rubble in the background. A… parking lot? The dull purr confirmed my suspicions and I formulated my response, just to test her…

"Oh, sorry, didn't you want him to be? How would you like to hear this story about your relative Sebastian…" I trailed off, waiting for her, no doubt, angry response. I began to stroll towards the cavern, drumming my fingers along my thigh. _Tide pool indeed…_

"_No, no I don't care!" _She screeched, irked, and I allowed myself a small smile at that. I rounded the corner of the walkway above the tide pool, relishing in the sight of a silent Jace… Wait, _what?!_

I froze as I looked down the semi-submerged staircase, almost dropping my phone in shock.

"Er, Cecily… I don't think he's dead yet…" I trailed off, wincing in anticipation of the way Cecily would respond. I chewed my nails anxiously as a started down the staircase, towards the problem at hand.

"_Why not? The tide pool must be full by now!" _She sounded positively puzzled, and I'm sure that I would have laughed had the conversation not had been this serious and if my life had not possibly been in danger.

"Well, it must have been at one point, but now—" I checked my wrist for the time—"The water level should be receding, not rising. So, er… How did you feel about using Sebastian as a bargaining chip? Because about that…" I cringed, cursing my mouth. Why bring up Sebastian? This way, she would find out that practically nothing had gone to plan.

"_He would be useful bait, I do agree…" _I breathed a sigh of relief. Not caught out – yet.

"Well, the thing is, Jace may or may not have disappeared…" I murmured, hoping that maybe, just _maybe, _Cecily might miss this particular part of our conversation. Just in case, I braced myself for the unavoidable onslaught of verbal brutality, walking off the plateau at the bottom of the stairs and pulling off my shoes and socks and rolling up my jeans in preparation for wading into the icy water.

"_Meet me back at…" _I let out a breath of air that had been starting to ache in my lungs. She'd missed what I'd said, thank goodne—"_WHAT?! _When?!"

_Oh, Lord… Ulysses help me!_

"Uh, I literally just checked on the cavern… And Sebastian may have helped with his escape. It looks like he is quite the smart one… Does he have straight As in school? Is he running for Valedictorian?" I stuttered slightly of the last sentence, pointlessly trying to distract Cecily from her evident rage.

"_Sebastian hasn't done anything like that. Why do you ask?"_

About that…

**CECILY POV**

"… _I'll get back to you on that one." _Jonathan's nervous voice squeaked out of the speakers on my phone, the hang-up tone following swiftly after.

"Dammit, Jonathan…" I hissed, snapping my phone shut and forcefully pushing it back inside my purse. Amatis sat down in the car without a word, as usual. I slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses and pulled out of the drab school parking lot, my notorious 'dastardly' (as Seb put it) smirk fixed on my face.

_It's go time._

**CLARY POV**

I'm starting to know how insomniacs feel.

It's early on Thursday morning. Very early, judging by the dusky, minimal moonlight bleeding through the shutters of my window and into my room. The house is eerily quiet, not even the birds having risen from their sleep. That means that it is earlier than 5:30am.

I haven't slept for more than five hours each night, plagued with vivid scenarios of Jace's death and a monstrous Eulysae figure coming to kill me in my sleep. I lay awake for most of the nights, staring unseeing at the chipped paint of the ceiling, which I hadn't noticed showed the plaster beneath it before. Sometimes I didn't want to fall asleep, knowing that my usually dreamless nights would be filled with images of a dying Jace and/or a pleading Jocelyn, who I hadn't spoken to since I last saw her.

I peered into the gloom to my left, where the vague silhouette of my bedside table lay. I knew that although there was not enough light for humans to be able to see, that I would be able to see had there been water in my room. Calypsaï vision is funny that way - pitch black water is as easy to see through as a sunny room, but in a dark room you're as good as blind. If I could see, I would see my lamp, a translucent glass of water, my cell phone plugged into its charger, the small alarm clock and the scrunched up piece of paper with Jocelyn's hastily scrawled name and phone number.

I groaned and scrubbed my hands over my face. Sometimes I wished that I was an inanimate object - like Raphael's little porcelain models of the Indian goddesses. Who knew that thinking would take so much work? It was exhausting, even with the right amount of sleep each night.

I sat up slowly, squinting in my bedroom. I had half a mind to flop back onto the bed, but I knew that even if did, I wouldn't gain any extra sleep. Shoving the crumpled sheets aside, I groggily swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood shakily. I then stumbled through my doorway, cursing when I caught my toe on the edge of the door jamb, and padded as quietly as I could down the hallway.

I crept into the dimly lit kitchen, missing the third floorboard on the left (because it creaked) and the sixth floorboard to the right (because it was loose). I had almost made it to the fridge when I heard it.

The wind, coming from my left.

The shutters on that side of the room didn't work - you needed a key, and we hadn't been able to find it. There were always strange noises coming from over there, and I'd never worked out what they were.

The shutters flapped wildly, narrowly missing the wall on several occasions. I peered around me into the gloom, listening quietly for any sign of life. There was a muted thud, and a screech like nails on a chalkboard. I shivered. Placing one foot in front of the other and avoiding the sixth (creaky) floorboard, I crept towards the noise.

The howling grew ever louder as I neared the shutters, instinct taking over as I raised my forearms in front of my face, squinting against the biting, gale-force wind. As I drew even closer, a blinding light seared through the gaps in the shutters and the strangest feeling came over me, encouraging me to touch the light…

A bright flash filled my vision. The fragments of light seemed to have an almost heavenly lustre, swirling with a feel and speed that seemed impossible for an inanimate object. All too soon, it was as if the fog lifted and suddenly I was thinking of Jace again, and the light got dimmer and dimmer until there was none at all and I landed in the middle of someone's overgrown backyard.

The moon was bright still, although a faint haze at the very edge of the horizon told me that it was later in the early morning than it had initially seemed. A monstrous house lay in front of me, a huge façade covering the exterior of the house, with massive floor to ceiling windows at regular intervals throughout the structure of the house. I looked around me, trying to gauge where I was. Blades of grass poked at my calves and knees, a mouldy wooden grate covering a small portion of the sharp iron fence around the property. I looked towards the house and puffed out my cheeks, chills running over my arms and legs, before deciding that the best option would be to at least check out the house.

As I walked around the perimeter of the house, I pondered my situation and what on earth that light, and those shutters, had really been. Of course, I'd heard of Portals, but they had always seemed a bit of a fairy tale to me. After all, I had never seen a real one, and they required an intense amount of magic and concentration to conjure. I hadn't been thinking of a destination as I had touched the portal, so it had clearly just taken me to its most recent destination; this house. I stopped walking and focused of keeping my footfalls quiet, keeping lower to the ground than usual, and peering around me as I continued my inventory of the grounds. I looked behind me hastily and snapped my head back around as I heard a soft sigh in front of me.

I ducked behind a marble column on the side of the house, peeking behind the intricate carving of cherubs and realistic feathers as I spied on the person who had sighed right in front of me. Thankfully, they didn't seem to notice that anything was wrong, and they continued to lean against the wall of the house and glance up to the window above them occasionally. They frequently glanced around the courtyard, and it was obvious that I had been very lucky not to have been seen while I was approaching. The mysterious but undeniably tall person continued to mutter and sigh under their breath. These mutterings seemed to come to a conclusion, and they lead to this person striding away from the wall and throwing pebbles at the window.

_How romantic._

The moonlight hit whoever the person was at an odd angle, so that all was revealed was short, dark hair and sharp cheekbones. It was, however, obvious that this figure was male, due to a lack of cleavage in their silhouette against the moonlit grass.

The man repeated his action of pebble-throwing for some time, until the light that had started off as a glow on the horizon became a beam and then the uppermost crest of the sun in all its glory. The day was still surprisingly dark, but I was intrigued by this mysterious lover, and I had spent enough time watching the breaking dawn to know that in reality, only around a half hour had passed.

Finally, a pebble thrown by the increasingly frustrated night time lover was finally no match for the spider web of cracks already splintering along the glass, and broke a significant amount of glass towards the top corner on the right of the pane. The smash was loud – my ears had adjusted to the serene quiet – and I winced as the bold sound rang out, breaking the peaceful aura around the house. I shrank back a little further behind my pillar – but only enough so that even though I could see the man, he probably couldn't see me. Probably.

It seemed that I wasn't the only one shocked by the loud noise; from inside the window, a groan carried into the dawn air, followed by a string of colourful curse words as the 'groan-er' examined the damage to their (his?) window. Muffled shuffling and more choice words were uttered before a dark-haired boy appeared at the window sill, scrubbing his hand over his face. The action was eerily familiar, and I couldn't help but think of—

Jace.

But it couldn't be, of course. And no sooner than the boy removed his hand from his face, the stranger on the outside called up to him in hushed tones.

"Alec! Can you hear me?" Alec? No wonder I had recognized the movement. He and Jace were best friends; I wasn't surprised that some of their mannerisms were the same. But as I pondered this, I looked closer at the stranger in front of me, and realised that Alec wasn't the only one here that I recognized.

**(AN: Back in time a little now; yesterday evening…)**

**CAMILLE POV**

"Magnus, what did you do?"

I was driving back to our house, and Magnus was sitting next to me, practically exploding with glee. If something wasn't up, the world was clearly coming to an end. I hadn't seen him this excited… well, ever.

"My darling Camille, I was just thinking about the tracking device that I may or may not have planted on our dear, _deranged _Ms. Verlac's car while I was, ah… _Looking _at the rear axis and how it fit onto the underside of her beautiful car." Now, _that _was something I was not expecting. He had a new boyfriend/girlfriend? I wouldn't bat an eyelid. Modelling contract? Nope. But this… This was fantastic! We had a lead, and with this, we could easily find Jace! I was about to express my joy at this advantage, when some kind of buzzer went nuts in Magnus' lap.

"What the _fuck _is that?!" I screeched, swerving on the already slippery conditions, trying to focus on the torrential rain that had started up not five minutes ago. Magnus grinned gleefully in the corner of my vision, waving the buzzer in my face and singing, "Lalalalalalaaa…" I growled under my breath a let out a sigh, waiting for his explanation.

"It's like my… Tracking device. It's hooked up to the magical energy I exude, and is a physical demonstration of how I'm tracking Cecily—well, at least, her _car._" I waited a beat before grinning and letting my head thump back against the headrest, relieved that this was one thing I could count on Magnus for.

"But… Not today. It's late and I'm stressing about Clary, and from what Cecily said on the phone earlier, Jace has a little bit of time left." I proceeded to repeat Cecily's one-sided conversation on the phone, before calling it a night and sending everyone into their rooms as soon as we were home.

At 10:03 that night, I went into my room and promptly fell asleep. Little did I know, if I had stayed awake two minutes longer, I would have heard footsteps head down the creaky hallway and enter the room that no-one ever used unless they needed to use the Portal.

**CLARY POV**

"Magnus?" I called softly, not wishing to awaken any others in the house. Magnus' head whipped around towards me, and I leaned around the pillar a little more, revealing my location. The first thing that struck me about Magnus' appearance was the fact that for the first time since I had met him, his hair was bland and free of any kind of gel, glitter or dye. I hung limply around his face, strangely bringing out his cheekbones and strong jawline, but at the same time making him look far more vulnerable and years younger.

A throat cleared above us, and I flicked my gaze to the uncomfortable boy at the window. Alec had his hand on the back of his neck in that classic pose that all boys seem to feel the need to do whenever they are unsure of how to react to a certain situation; this definitely qualified. His blue eyes looked nervous, and as his gaze flitted between Magnus and I, I realised that Alec had no clue that we were 'related' and he must also wonder what I must think of Magnus and why he was here in the first place.

I stepped forward. "Alec, I would like to introduce you to my pseudo father and our favourite drama teacher, Magnus Bane." I smiled slightly before frowning. "Magnus, what in Calypso's name were you doing?" Alec looked a little puzzled at the Calypso reference, and I mentally kicked myself for using that phrase in front of him. But, no matter.

"Clary, look… I just really needed to talk to Alec… And clear something up. But no matter, because we need him anyway, and this explanation is going to take a long time. I would like to start by telling you both that I am, in fact, a magical creature and could I please demonstrate this fact by creating a portal for us?" I smiled and gestured at the wall, used to the usual magical aspects of our existence, and chanced a look at Alec in the window.

"M-magic?" He asked, visibly swallowing.

"Yes. Please come down here, Alec; do I really need to drag you?" Magnus replied with a hand on his hip; the epitome of boredom. Alec looked taken aback for a moment, but he recovered and began to scale the wall, holding on to the drainpipe and ivy climbing up the wall for better grip. He landed on the ground with a slight stumble and a thud, before glancing around and joining us.

"Well, go on, then. Show me what you've got."

Magnus started to mumble under his breath, and before long, a crackly aura surrounded us, as if the air had been charged with electricity. A spark on the wall became a glow and then a blaze, and suddenly a blue, swirling abyss was in front of us, rather than a wall. Magnus turned and handed Alec a small diving mask and oxygen tank, strapping them on in record time before shoving Alec into the middle of Triton and Atlanta.

**CECILY POV **

There was something about magic that had always intrigued me.

The way that if you focused enough, anyone was capable of harnessing its raw power and utilising the ability that all creatures are born with to sense where magic is being used. I had always had a knack for this kind of thing; now was no different. I turned to Amatis slightly, grimacing and looking straight ahead, onto the coastal highway that lead to Idris.

"A portal was just opened in the Bronx, used to travel roughly 770 miles South East. Destination was Bermuda." I smirked at the look of utter shock in the corner of my eye.

"Do you know what lies near Bermuda, Amatis?" I asked, my question full of condescension. She frowned at opened her mouth to speak, but I interrupted her.

"And how would you know this, Amatis?" I asked.

"Bermuda is the closest place to the Calypsaï kingdom on the planet. I know this because I have spent many years trying to track them down and give them what they deserve." Amatis' expression was steely, and the resolve in her words grew as her speech rose in volume.

"And what _do _they deserve, Amatis?" I asked, already knowing the answer that she would give.

"Nothing, Cecily. Nothing at all." I finally allowed myself a smile.

_This is the end for you, Valentine._

**What do you think? I hope it was worth the wait! Let me know in reviews!**

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**Thank you once again! The next chapter is being drafted, and I have big plans for it! It may be quite a long one, but I hope that it will be worth it and I will try to get it out to you soon. I am moving back to the UK now, so we have tons of packing to do, but I may be able to find a few hours to write in, and believe me when I say that I will try!**

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**-Physalie00**


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